Latest Articles about Europe's East

Yulia Tymoshenko’s Imprisonment: The Yushchenko Factor

Former President Viktor Yushchenko is an important, but underestimated, aspect of the sentencing of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years imprisonment and a three year ban from government work. Our Ukraine Honorary Chairman Yushchenko’s support for the sentence was in contradiction with the Our... MORE

Why Yulia Tymoshenko Will Remain Imprisoned

Western policymakers and Ukrainian experts are perplexed as to why President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to the court quickly sentencing Yulia Tymoshenko on October 11 to a seven year sentence, a three year ban from political life and a fine of 1.5 billion hryvnia ($190 million).... MORE

Russia Still Hopes Ukraine Will Join Customs Union

Ukraine has made considerable progress in the free trade talks with the EU during the past several months. Kyiv and Brussels are planning to sign an association and free trade agreement in December 2011, as the free trade talks were completed in Brussels on October... MORE

Can Ukraine Hold Free Elections Next Year?

The October 11 sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years imprisonment makes it impossible to hold free elections in one year’s time on October 31, 2012. The EU has already made its position plain: if opposition leaders are not able to stand, then the elections... MORE

Belarus Crisis: A Show of Solidarity

On September 29-30, the Eastern Partnership summit took place in Warsaw, the second such summit after the inaugural Prague meeting on May 7, 2009. The summit was to be attended by representatives from 33 countries, including 27 EU member states as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan,... MORE

Stepping Up Pressure On the Belarusian Regime

The regime of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has been put under serious pressure in recent days. On September 29-30, a European Union summit in Warsaw condemned Belarus’ human rights record and demanded the immediate release and full pardon of all political prisoners, most of which... MORE

Surreal Eastern Partnership Summit: EU Gives Ukraine Last Red Card

The September 29-30, Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw was another typically EU empty diplomatic soirée. The Viktor Yanukovych administration has ignored Western criticism of political repression and the EU has put all its eggs into the Ukraine basket to show success in the Eastern Partnership,... MORE

EU Offers Carrots for Ukraine to Free Tymoshenko

The Pechersky District court in Kyiv on September 30 adjourned the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko until the week starting October 10, when a verdict should be delivered. This may become the turning point in Kyiv’s relations with the West. Tymoshenko faces... MORE