As the August 31 grenade attacks, rioting, and violent protests at Ukraine’s Parliament—the Verkhovna Rada—demonstrated quite literally, the Ukrainian decentralization effort is an explosive issue. Constitutional amendments granting local communities greater governing responsibilities have sparked widespread criticism, both in Ukraine and in the West.Some warn that the new system will excessively empower the president at the expense of the Council of Ministers and the Rada. Others question how a country can change the distribution of powers without Luhansk and Donetsk, both still occupied by covert Russian forces. Other analysts worry about certain ambiguities in the legislation’s language, arguing that the …read more
Source: Atlantic Council
