The Washington Post: Georgia’s democracy is in peril
For much of the last decade, Georgia and Ukraine stood out among post-Soviet nations for their pursuit of liberal democracy and integration with the West following popular uprisings against authoritarian governments. The United States and the European Union devoted considerable resources and diplomacy to encouraging their sometimes-halting progress and to fending off attempts by Russia to undermine it. Sadly, all that work is close to being undone. Since winning power in a democratic election in 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has overseen the prosecution and imprisonment of his chief opponent, prompting the European Union to put an association agreement on hold.