Vitali Klitschko is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer.
Vitali Klitschko is the son of Vladimir Rodionovich Klitschko , a Soviet Air Force Major General and a Soviet Military Attaché in East Germany. He was also one of the commanders in charge of cleaning up the effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986 and was afterward diagnosed with cancer.
Vitali Klitschko became actively involved in Ukrainian politics in 2005 and combined this with his professional boxing career until his retirement from the sport in 2013.
As a boxer, Klitschko is a three-time world heavyweight champion, the second longest reigning WBC heavyweight champion of all time, and has the third longest individual WBC heavyweight title streak of all time at 9 consecutive defenses .He held the WBO title ,the Ring magazine title ; and the WBC title twice.
Standing at (6 feet 7 inches), Klitschko was renowned for having exceptional ring dominance. With an 87.23% knockout percentage, he holds one of the highest knockout-to-fight ratios of any world champion in heavyweight boxing history.
Klitschko is the only heavyweight boxer to receive the WBC honour of “Eternal champion“, as he has never lost the title and successfully defended it ten times. He is also the only world heavyweight champion to have never been knocked down in any fight.
He and George Foreman are the only heavyweight boxers in history to defend a world title after turning 40.
Being the first professional boxing world champion to hold a PhD degree, and in reference to his punching power, Klitschko’s nickname was “Dr. Ironfist”. His younger brother, Wladimir, is a former unified world heavyweight champion. From 2006 until 2015, Vitali and Wladimir dominated heavyweight boxing, a period typically known as the “Klitschko Era” of the division.
Klitschko formally began his political career in 2006 when he placed second in the Kyiv (Kiev) mayoral race. In 2010, he founded the political party Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR; its acronym in Ukrainian spelled “punch”) party and was elected into parliament for this party in 2012.
Klitschko mayor of Kyiv, courageously confronts amassed Russian Berkut ,(specialized Russian forces), opened fire early Thursday after protesters tried to push them away from the camps they occupied. Up to then at least 77 people have been killed since , and another 577 were injured, as the bloody unrest in Ukraine continued
January 22nd, the date usually celebrated in Ukraine as the Day of Unity between east and west, but will now go down in history as the day the two-months-long Euromaidan movement saw its first fatalities as violence escalated in Kyiv’s city center, with internal troops and special forces pitted against the formerly peaceful protesters in a vicious, at times almost reminiscent medieval battles. One civic activist was found beaten to death in the woods outside Kyiv, and others were shot as they took part in the standoff.
The demonstrations that shook Ukraine throughout November and December 2013 reached a critical turning point on December 17th, when the country’s embattled president, Viktor Yanukovych, struck a surprise deal with Vladimir Putin in which Russia bought $15 billion in Ukrainian bonds and slashed the price on natural gas by a third.
A few days earlier, a journalist, Tetyana Chornovol, who had accused Yanukovych of corruption, was run off the road by a black SUV, dragged out of her car, and beaten by men presumed to be government agents.
As photos of her swollen and bloodied face shocked the world, the demonstrators rallied around Chornovol as a symbol of what they were fighting for, and it became clear that the drama in Ukraine, it was just beginning.
This news flash came as blunt confirmation that Yanukovych had no intention of giving in to the innovative protest movement that put his government in crisis, by demanding that the country look west toward Europe instead of becoming a Russian ally once more. As the protesters digested what seemed to be a significant coup by Putin, the question of what would come next hung in the air. But by New Year’s Eve, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were in the streets again, stronger than ever.
At first, the political crisis and social upheaval in Ukraine that led to several weeks of protest on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in central Kyiv—or Euromaidan, as it came to be referred to because of the sympathies of the demonstrators—looked to many observers like yet another manifestation of the ongoing struggle for ideological and geopolitical hegemony between Russia and the West.
While it certainly was that, it also, and more critically, marked a new stage in the evolution of Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state, and produced a new form of protest—not another color revolution but a self-organized, self-regulated zone physically located in the center of the capital city.
At that time Klitschko stated the UDAR did not enter government to create policiy but rather, “Our demand was for an independent government with as many independent politicians as possible, a so-called technocratic government. Our ideals and our agenda cannot be found in the current government, and on many issues we have completely different positions“.
We have a completely different plan for reform and for the future, which, for the good of the Ukrainian people, we will hopefully have the opportunity to enact after our success in the presidential election. Part of the reason was, at that time was because Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland Party had taken up all of the important posts. In this situation, we don’t think it’s smart for one party to take over all of the posts. But under the current conditions cited, we didn’t have any option except to stay out of the government.
Klitschko was elected Mayor of Kyiv on 25 May 2014. He headed the election list of the winner of the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, but he gave up his parliamentary seat to stay on as mayor.
In August 2015 ,the UDAR party merged into Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Klitschko thus became the new party leader and was reelected as mayor on 15 November 2015.
Klitschko began campaigning for Mayor of Kyiv shortly after his retirement in 2005. He lost the 2006 mayoral election to Leonid Chernovetskyi. Klitschko campaigned on an anti-corruption platform.
In the 2008 Kyiv local election, he ran again and won . Klitschko simultaneously led the Vitaliy Klychko Blocthat , and elected into the Kyiv City Council. His campaign hired Rudy Giuliani as a consultant. In 2008, he was also appointed to the Ukrainian delegation of the Congress of the Council of Europe.
Klitschko became the leader of the political party Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) in April 2010. During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, the party won representatives in (Ukrainian) municipalities and Oblast Councils (regional parliaments).
Klitscho and UDAR became a partner of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in November 2011. UDAR is supported by the German government and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and received support in particular from Angela Merkel and politicians from the conservative European People’s Party.
According to information gained by the German magazine Der Spiegel, the target was to “set up Klitschko purposefully as a new strong man in Kyiv – in order to counter this way the Kremlin’s growing influence”. Support consisted of logistics, training and joint performances.
During the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Klitschko was elected (he was top candidate on UDAR’s party list) into the Ukrainian parliament; when his party won 40 seats and was chosen the leader of the party’s faction in Parliament.
He announced on 24 October 2013 that he intended to take part in the next Ukrainian presidential election that was then set for 2015. Experts and lawyers then argued that it was unclear if Klitschko could take part in these elections because under Ukrainian law, a presidential candidate must have had his residence in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to election day; and Klitschko had lived for many years in Ukraine and Germany, where, according to media reports, he has a residence permit.
Klitschko was one of the dominant figures of the Euromaidan protests. During these protests, he retired from boxing and confirmed in February 2014 that he would take part in the (early) 2014 Ukrainian presidential election, but later announced that he had changed his mind and would run for the post of Mayor of Kyiv in the 2014 local election (including Mayoral elections) set for May.
In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election Klitschko endorsed the candidacy of Petro Poroshenko. Klitschko won Kyiv’s mayoral elections with almost 57% of the votes and sworn in as mayor in June 2014. The same day the Ukrainian parliament had deprived Klitschko of his MP mandate (Ukrainian MPs are not entitled to combine parliamentary activities with any other public employment). Poroshenko then was elected President of Ukraine.
Poroshenko appointed Klitschko as head of Kyiv City State Administration, the Klitschko headed the election list of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc in the late October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, but he vowed not to resign as Mayor of Kyiv.
In the 2015 Kyiv Mayoral election ,Klitschko was reelected.
Klitschko had to resign Bloc chairman after a new law barring a head of administration to be chairman or a member of a political party took effect on 1 May 2016.
Political positions
Klitschko is in favor of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. He sees the European Union as Ukraine’s “model for [Ukraine’s] future political and economic development.” He believes former President Viktor Yanukovych and his government were “deliberately destroying the integration (into Europe) prospects of Ukraine”and that Ukrainian politicians have no right to let them “rule after 2014”. Klitschko is also in favor of NATO-Ukraine cooperation
A protest against his decision to abandon a far-reaching European Union partnership deal in November 2013 morphed into a huge – and violent – campaign to push him from power.
Under EU pressure he signed a deal to transfer powers to parliament and hold early elections. But within hours he had fled the capital and his administration had crumbled.
As Ukraine’s protest leaders and opposition moved to fill the power vacuum, Mr Yanukovych, 63, maintained he was still the lawfully elected president Ukrainian anti-government protesters gathered on Kyiv’s Independence Square .
President Viktor Yanukovych and three main opposition leaders signed a deal the same day to end a three-month crisis over the ex-Soviet country’s political future that has led to nearly 100 deaths.
The pact, which paves the way for early elections and a shift in political power toward parliament, was signed at the presidential palace in the presence of three EU envoys.
Viktor Yanukovych has the rare distinction of having been ousted twice from Ukraine’s presidency after giant street protests. Opponents accuse him of having enriched himself, his family and cronies while in power.
But it was the deaths of at least 88 people, many of them protesters shot dead by uniformed snipers in 48 hours of bloodshed, that ultimately brought him down.
As he headed for neighbouring Russia, Kiev’s new rulers issued an arrest warrant for his role in the “mass murder of innocent civilians”.
The U.S., Russia and the 28-nation EU are deeply concerned about the future of Ukraine, a divided nation of 46 million. The country’s western regions want to be closer to the EU and have rejected Yanukovych’s authority in many cities, while Eastern Ukraine favors closer ties with Russia.
Hours after the deal was signed, Ukraine’s parliament voted to restore the 2004 constitution that limits presidential authority, clawing back some of the powers that Yanukovych had pushed through for himself after being elected in 2010.
Parliament then voted to fire the interior minister, Vitali Zakharchenko, who is widely despised and blamed for ordering police violence, including the snipers who killed scores of protesters Thursday in Kyiv‘, the capital that had been nearly paralyzed by the protests.With Yanukovych’s supporters quitting his party one after another , legislators also approved an amnesty for protesters involved in violence.
Klitschko: That was the worst moment on Independence Square — when after the talks with the president I stood on the stage and people were no longer listening to me. After that I spent three hours on the square and everyone asked me: How could you shake his bloodied hand? I told them: I’d also shake hands with the devil in order to save lives.
Economy
Klitschko’s main concern is social standards and the economy of Ukraine. He believes “the issue of language is not the top priority”. : The people in the Crimea, in Donetsk or Kharkiv, are only superficially concerned about language, history and national identity. They want a job, a proper income, a better life. That’s where we need to try to offer them better solutions.
Klitschko wants less corruption and more transparency in Ukrainian politics. He also advocates lower taxes to stimulate the economy.
Judicial Reform
In December 2011 Klitschko described the judicial system of Ukraine as “complete degradation” and accused it of violating human rights and humiliating its prisoners. According to him Ukraine lacks independent and unbiased judges because “The Ukrainian judiciary is currently a closed clan; lifelong judges and appointments through administrative leverage”.He wants to ensure the independence of judges by switching from a system of appointed judges to a system of elected judges.
The State of Ukraine currently
Ukraine’s recent reform efforts have been unprecedented, while much work remains such as in the fight against corruption, which must be pursued.
The EU has confirmed its position as Ukraine’s first trading partner. Ukraine’s recent reform efforts have been unprecedented, while much work remains such as in the fight against corruption, which must be pursued. The European Union will continue its support for Ukraine’s reform efforts, with both expertise and financial support.”
“Today I can see clearly that you will not be defeated by an external enemy. You are too strong. You can only be defeated by yourselves. This is why you need to keep your unity at any cost, and avoid likethe plague internal conflicts. I always repeated this to my compatriots when I was Prime Minister of Poland, I repeat this now to the whole of Europe: only united can we overcome the challenges of modern times. There is nothing worse than the break-up of a community in the face of modern-day threats. Democracy is about differences of opinion and competition, but also about permanent looking for consensus. Therefore, your most important task should be to build a modern state that is citizen-friendly, resistant to corruption, respectful of the highest standards of public life. If you pass also this exam, nothing and no-one will defeat you.”