Oleh Tyahnybok

Biography

Tyahnybok was born in the city of Lviv to a family of doctors and is a doctor himself. His father, Yaroslav Tyahnybok, a Merited Doctor of Ukraine, was a distinguished sports doctor, chief physician of the Soviet national boxing team, and a former boxer himself who achieved the title of the Master of Sports of the USSR. Oleh's great-grandfather was a brother of Lonhyn Tsehelsky, a politician in the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Tyahnybok states that he remembers searches conducted by the agents of the KGB in his family's apartment.

After secondary school, Tyahnybok enrolled into the Lviv Medical Institute and received part-time medical jobs as a corpsman and nurse, but after the second year was drafted to the army. After returning to the institute, he initiated the creation of the Med Institute Student Brotherhood - the first step in his life as a civil activist. Tyahnybok graduated from the institute in 1993 as a qualified surgeon (as he sometimes mentions, majoring in urology). In 1994, 25-year-old Tyahnybok was elected to the Lviv Oblast Council, and in 1998 he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada.

Political career

In October 1991 Tyahnybok became a member of the Social-National Party of Ukraine. He is characterised as representative of Ukraine's far right. From 1994 until 1998, Tyahnybok served as a member of the Lviv Regional Council. In 1998, Tyahnybok was first elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) as a member of Social-National Party of Ukraine; in the Verkhovna Rada he became a member of the People's Movement of Ukraine faction. In 2002, Tyahnybok was reelected to the Verkhovna Rada as a member of Victor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc. In parliament he submitted 36 motions for debate, but the Verkhovna Rada adopted only four of them. In the majority of his motions, he opposed the introduction of the Russian language as the second official state language; proposed recognition of the fighting role of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during World War II; called for the lustration (regulation of political involvement) of former communist officials, security-service officers and undercover agents; and demanded the prohibition of communist ideology. The Rada did not adopt any of these proposals.

On 20 July 2004 Tyahnybok was expelled from the Our Ukraine parliamentary faction after he made a speech in the Carpathian Mountains at the gravesite of a commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. "[You are the ones] that the Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling Ukraine fears most" and "They were not afraid and we should not be afraid. They took their automatic guns on their necks and went into the woods, and fought against the Muscovites, Germans, Jews and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state."

In his defence Tyahnybok said he had not offended Russians in calling them an occupying force, as this was based on historical fact. He also denied that he was antisemitic, saying he was rather pro-Ukrainian. The prosecutor's office initially filed criminal charges for inciting ethnic hatred, but later withdrew them for lack of evidence. Since that time Tyahnybok has won nine court cases in that regard. Court decisions have recognized that the criminal case was raised unlawfully, and that the actions of TV-channel "Inter" (which showed the footage of Tyanybok's speech) as well as of the Head of the Derzhkomnatsmihratsia Hennadiy Moskal were recognized as ones that insult the honor and dignity of Oleh Tyahnybok and caused him moral damage. The actions around that issue led to creation of the "Program in defense of Ukrainians". Tyahnybok stated in 2012 "this speech is relevant even today" and "All I said then, I can also repeat now".

Since February 2004 Tyahnybok has headed the Svoboda political party.

Tyahnybok stood as a candidate for the post of Mayor of Kyiv during the 2008 Kyiv local election in 2008. In the elections Leonid Chernovetskyi was reelected with 37.7% of the vote, while Tyahnybok received 1.37% of the vote.

Tyahnybok stood as a candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2010 presidential election representing the All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" party. He received 352,282 votes, or 1.43% of the total. He received most of his votes in the Galician oblasts — Lviv Oblast, Ternopil Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast — and his vote share in this region amounted to five percent of the total ballots cast. In the second round, Tyahnybok did not endorse a candidate. He did present a list of some 20 demands that second-round candidate Yulia Tymoshenko would have had to fulfil first before gaining his endorsement - which included publicizing alleged secret deals Tymoshenko had with Vladimir Putin and ridding herself of what he called Ukraine-haters in her close circles.

During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections Tyahnybok's party won between twenty and thirty percent of the votes in Eastern Galicia where it became one of the main forces in local government.

During the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Tyahnybok was re-elected (he was top candidate on his party list) to the Verkhovna Rada when his party won 38 seats. Tyahnybok was elected leader of the party's parliamentary faction.

In June 2013, Tyahnybok and another Svoboda leader were barred from entering the U.S. for their open antisemitism, according to the Kyiv-based newspaper Segodnya. In December 2013 US Senator John McCain visited Kyiv where he met with and shared a platform with Tyahnybok.

In March 2014 Russia launched a criminal case against Tyahnybok, and some members of Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence for "organizing an armed gang" that had allegedly fought against the Russian 76th Guards Air Assault Division in the First Chechen War.

In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election he received 1.16% of the vote. In the October 2014 parliamentary election Tyahnybok was again first on the election list of his party; since the party came 0,29% short to overcome the 5% threshold to win seats on the nationwide list he was not re-elected into parliament.

In 2014 he met then Vice President Joe Biden on a visit to the White House.

On 14 October 2018, Tyahnybok announced he would not take part in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election but that his party had instead decided to nominate Ruslan Koshulynskyi as the candidate of nationalist political forces. In the election Koshulynskyi received 1.6% of the votes.

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Tyahnybok was placed first on the joined list of Svoboda with National Corps, the Governmental Initiative of Yarosh and Right Sector. But in the election they won 2.15% of the votes, less than half of the 5% election threshold, and thus no parliamentary seats via the national party list. CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, Ukrinform (26 July 2019) Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019, Ukrainska Pravda (21 July 2019).

Political positions

patriots]] in other countries because true nationalism means both love of your own nation and respect for others. Only he who respects himself has the power to respect others.

Tyahnybok believes that a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia" (using pejorative terms for both Russians and Jews) controls Ukraine and has attacked what he says is the "criminal activities of organized Jewry in Ukraine". In 2012 international human rights organization The Simon Wiesenthal Center placed Tyahnybok fifth in its list of the top 10 antisemites and haters of Israel, based on his previous comments regarding Jews in Ukraine.

Tyahnybok has praised controversial far-right Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera saying in 2015 that the "current government came to power using Bandera’s slogans, so it has to follow his ideas". He also praised the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists for having fought "Moscovites, Germans, Jews and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state".

Tyahnybok regards Russia as Ukraine's biggest threat.

Tyahnybok wants to introduce an "ethnicity" section into Ukrainian passports, start a visa regime with Russia, and require Ukrainians to pass a Ukrainian language test to work in the civil service.

Tyahnybok wants to re-establish Ukraine as a nuclear power. He believes this would stop the "Russian virtual war on Ukraine".

Tyahnybok has said "the only national language is Ukrainian, and that’s not even under discussion, and we will not give in to any concession on that.".

Cultural and political image

During a visit by Tyahnybok to Sevastopol on 6 January 2010, some 1,500 activists of parties and public movements picketed the Business and Culture Center where Tyahnybok had a meeting with voters.

Tyahnybok was voted Person of the Year for 2012 by readers of the country's leading news magazine, Korrespondent. Tyahnybok was ranked #43 in the 2012 list of "Top 100 Most influential Ukrainians" by Korrespondent.

References

References

1. "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VII convocation". [[Verkhovna Rada.
2. "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the III convocation". [[Verkhovna Rada.
3. "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the IV convocation". [[Verkhovna Rada.
4. [https://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/tiahnybok-reelected-svoboda-party-head-317346.html Tiahnybok reelected Svoboda party head], [[Kyiv Post]] (8 December 2012)
5. He was a [[People's Deputy of Ukraine]] from 1998 to 2006, representing [[Lviv Oblast]], and from 2012 to 2014 on the proportional list of Svoboda. Previously, he was elected councilman of the [[Lviv Oblast Council]] for the second session.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20824693 Svoboda: The rise of Ukraine's ultra-nationalists], [[BBC News]] (26 December 2012)
6. Gorchinskaya, Katya. "Svoboda tames radicals to get into parliament". [[Kyiv Post]].
7. (December 13, 2012). "1984: радянський фільм про батька Тягнибока". [[Ukrayinska Pravda]].
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150411215503/http://bunews.com.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=526:ukrainian-nationalist-leader-thriving-in-hard-times-&catid=6:politics&Itemid=2 (archived) Ukrainian nationalist leader thriving in hard times], Business Ukraine (January 20, 2011)
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12. [http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=8fd5893941d69d0be3f378576261ae3e&tx_ttnews%5Bany_of_the_words%5D=Tyahnybok&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=26703&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=0a5d124110 Yushchenko Finally Gets Tough On Nationalists], [[The Jamestown Foundation]] (3 August 2004).
13. In the speech, which was aired on television in the summer of 2004, he made comments such as,[http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/30697 Tyahnybok: Nationalist, fearful of Russia, favors NATO], [[Kyiv Post]] (29 October 2008)
14. Interview published in the Ukrainian newspaper Silski Visti on 13 August 2004, source: [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13020984_ITM Ukrainian MP denies inciting racial hatred.], accessmylibrary.com (17 August 2004)
15. [https://www.jta.org/news/article/2009/05/25/1005397/ukrainian-partys-presidential-candidate-worries-jews Ukrainian party picks xenophobic candidate] {{webarchive. link. (2012-06-09 , [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] (25 May 2009))
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18. {{in lang
19. {{in lang. uk [https://pravda.com.ua/articles/4b537cbbca600/ Election results and map by region], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (4 February 2010)
20. [https://www.utoronto.ca/jacyk/ElectionWatch/Blog/Entries/2010/1/29_Tymoshenkos_Looming_Defeat__How_Did_She_Make_It_Inevitable-_Serhiy_Kudelia.html Tymoshenko’s Looming Defeat: How Did She Make It Inevitable?] {{webarchive. link. (2013-11-11, [[Serhiy Kudelia]] (29 January 2010))
21. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20031821 Q&A:Ukrainian parliamentary election], [[BBC News]] (23 October 2012)
22. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20113616 Ukraine election:President Yanukovych party claims win], [[BBC News]] (29 October 2012)
23. [https://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/parties-spend-over-hr-600-million-on-elections-according-to-report-316205.html Parties spend over Hr 600 million on elections, according to report], [[Kyiv Post]] (16 November 2012)
24. [https://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/five-factions-including-communist-party-registered-in-parliament-317535.html Five factions, including Communist Party, registered in parliament], [[Kyiv Post]] (12 December 2012)
25. [Ukrainian Far Right Nationalists Barred From U.S. for Anti-Semitic Hatred http://forward.com/articles/179415/ukrainian-far-right-nationalists-barred-from-us-fo/#ixzz3TzHrdPDj]
26. (7 March 2014). "In Ukraine, nationalists gain influence - and scrutiny". Reuters.
27. "John McCain Went To Ukraine And Stood On Stage With A Man Accused Of Being An Anti-Semitic Neo-Nazi". Business Insider.
28. (14 March 2014). "Russia launches criminal case against Ukraine's Tiahnybok".
29. (29 May 2014). "Poroshenko wins presidential election with 54.7% of vote - CEC". [[Radio Ukraine International]].
30. [http://utr.tv/eng/news-from-www-ukrinform-ua/327072-poroshenko_bloc_to_have_greatest_number_of_seats_in_parliament_327072.html Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament] {{webarchive. link. (2014-11-10 , [[Ukrainian Television and Radio]] (8 November 2014)
    [https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/233404.html People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (8 November 2014)
    [https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/233426.html Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (8 November 2014))
31. {{in lang. uk [https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2014/10/3/7039669/ Party list All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom"], [[Ukrayinska Pravda]] (3 October 2014)
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33. {{in lang. uk [https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2018/10/14/7195134/ "Svoboda" will nominate to the presidency not Tyahnybok], [[Ukrayinska Pravda]] (14 October 2018)
34. [https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/zelenskiy-wins-first-round-but-that-s-not-the-surprise/ Zelenskiy wins first round but that’s not the surprise], [[Atlantic Council]] (4 April 2019)
35. (9 June 2019). "Ярош, Тягнибок та Білецький таки сформували єдиний список на вибори".
36. (16 May 2014). "Ukraine's Far Right Candidate Reflects Mainstream Nationalist Views". VOA.
37. (28 December 2012). "Wiesenthal ranks top 10 anti-Semites, Israel-haters".
38. (4 January 2015). "Wiesenthal Center pans Svoboda march but many Ukrainian Jews aren't worried". Jerusalem Post.
39. Rudling, Per Anders. (2013). "The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right: The Case of VO Svoboda.". Routledge.
40. He has accused the [[Dmitry Medvedev#Presidency (2008–2012). Medvedev presidency]] of "waging virtual war on Ukraine along many fronts – in the information sphere and the diplomatic sector, within the [[Russia in the European energy sector. energy trade]] and throughout the world of international [[Public relations. autonomous status]] and [[Sevastopol]] of its special status.[https://archive.today/20120713142111/http://imk.com.ua/en/news/31232 Tyahnybok: Crimean autonomy should be cancelled], Inter~Media (August 12, 2008)
41. [http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56529/ Nationalist presidential candidate in Ukraine calls for downgrading Crimea status], [[Kyiv Post]] (7 January 2010)
42. [http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/57068/ Tiahnybok’s virulent brand of nationalism shows no strength], [[Kyiv Post]] (14 January 2010)
43. [https://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/56511/ 1,500 activists of over 10 parties protest arrival of nationalist leader in Sevastopol], [[Kyiv Post]] (6 January 2010)
44. "43 место Олег Тягнибок". [[Korrespondent]].