Carnegie Europe: How the EU can make a difference in Ukraine’s future
As tensions spiral in Ukraine, the EU needs to revisit its approach to its troubled Eastern neighbor.
After Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych snubbed EU leaders by not signing a painstakingly negotiated association agreement at last week’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, the union’s response was relatively sanguine. The EU told Ukraine that its “door was still open” if and when Kiev reconsidered its decision. Within the EU, most debate was in fact about Russia, rather than Ukraine itself. Some governments felt the union had stood admirably firm on its democratic principles and not descended to the level of Russian blandishments.