While the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is seeking to expand its membership, paving the way for the gradual incorporation of the Kyrgyz Republic and Ukraine into its integration orbit, opposition in these countries to the Eurasian integration project has been steadily rising.Several... MORE

When writing about xenophobia and racism, Western scholarly and media writing about Ukraine inevitably focuses on Western Ukraine and the rise of the Svoboda nationalist party. But in fact, Council of Europe reports, the United States’ diplomatic cables from Kyiv (released by Wikileaks), annual reports... MORE

On May 29, the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine met in Astana to participate in a scheduled meeting of the Supreme Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), established in 2001. Since Moscow, Minsk and Astana have lately been engaged in... MORE

Following a week of protests over his offensive and defamatory statements about the May 18, 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars, Vladimir Andreev, the Russian consul general in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, resigned from his post on May 25, 2013. These events were provoked by Andreev’s response... MORE

Ukraine has been moving closer to both an association and free trade deal with the European Union, as well as observer status in the Russian-led Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Neither of the two statuses promises full integration. Because of this, Kyiv believes... MORE

Each year on May 18, around 25,000–30,000 Crimean Tatars gather in Crimea’s capital Simferopol to commemorate the 1944 deportation of their parents and grandparents from their historical homeland. They come to Simferopol from all cities and towns and conduct a peaceful meeting organized by the... MORE

Tomorrow (May 18) marks the 69th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatar nation from their homeland on trumped-up charges of collaboration with the Germans during World War II. And once again, Crimean Tatars and their friends around the world will mark that... MORE

Ukraine’s energy sector mirrors the country’s pursuit of a multi-vector foreign policy. Kyiv believes it can extract benefits from East and West without giving up its national sovereignty. Since 2010, President Viktor Yanukovych has taken concrete steps toward achieving energy security for Ukraine that his... MORE

Islam is being politicized in an unusual and somewhat unexpected way in Crimea. Certain Crimean Tatar leaders have been using the existence of Islamic groups on the peninsula to advance their own communal demands even as some Ukrainian and Russian leaders have been invoking the... MORE

The European Union has visibly warmed to Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych freed from prison the former Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko, a victim of selective justice. Judging by recent statements from EU and Ukrainian officials, they now see a real chance to sign an association... MORE