Extradition promises for show as Russia forces citizenship on Crimean political prisoner
Russia is still trying to force its citizenship on Gennady Afanasyev, one of the four opponents of Crimean annexation taken illegally to Russia and convicted of ‘terrorism’, and may also be putting similar pressure on Oleksandr Kolchenk …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Political Calculations Behind Italy’s Campaign Against European Sanctions on Russia
From the outset, the Italian government has been among the most tepid enforcers of the European Union’s sanctions against Russia. And as the impact of Western sanctions has reportedly negatively affected the Italian economy, Rome appears increasingly determined to overcome the current regime of penalties imposed on the Kremlin (Sputnik...
What Ukraine’s new prime minister is (and isn’t) likely to achieve
A months-long political crisis in Kiev came to an end on April 14, when Ukraine’s Rada (parliament) approved a new prime minister. Expectations that the government will move on needed reforms and anti-corruption measures, however, are low. Kamikaze prime minister? The previous prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, had served since the Maidan...
Ukrainian Foreign Policy Audit: a Project of the Black Sea Trust
Photo: torange.biz With the support of Black Sea Trust, the Kyiv-based Institute of World Policy launched a large-scale analytical project Ukraine’s Foreign Policy Audit. The objective of this project is to explore the mutual interests of Ukraine and a number of strategically important states in order to develop recommendations for a...
European Disintegration: Too Much to Lose
For decades the search for deeper integration characterised the European Union. Today the discussion revolves around disintegration. It began with the Greek debt crisis, but only came into its own with summer 2015’s major influx of refugees and the reimposition of controls at certain borders. In June the United Kingdom will vote on whether...
Stuck in the Ukrainian Conundrum: U.S. And Europe Need to Drop Sanctions and Negotiate a Way Out
Doug Bandow Many Ukrainians expect America and Europe to save them. Suggest that they are living a fantasy gets you tarred as a blatant fool and Russian stooge. Yet Ukraine shouldn’t waste time posing as a fairy tale maiden in distress waiting for rescue by the Western knight in shining armor. Kiev risks ending up as a failed state. Ukraine...
No, ‘We’ Aren’t Responsible for Chibok Girls: Political Proclamations Won’t Solve World’s Problems
Doug Bandow What do you do after you brought your party’s control of government to a dramatic end? You become an international scold and blowhard, blaming the world’s problems on everyone else—who have no ability to solve any of them. In fact, has-beens and once-weres often are brought in as decorations for international gatherings,...
Zhirinovsky Headed for the Scrap Heap?
A statue of the controversial Russian nationalist may be dismantled for breaching federal law. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
HCSS: Defense Reform in Ukraine: Civil Society to the Rescue
Stephan attended a meeting on Ukrainian Defense Reform at the NATO Liaison Office in Kyiv. …read more Source: The Hague Centre for Strategic...
Verdict awaited on Russian military intelligence officers captured in Donbas
Media hype suggesting that Monday’s verdict due on two Russians believed to be from GRU or Russian military intelligence could immediately be used to ensure Nadiya Savchenko’s exchange and return to Ukraine, is, her lawyer warns, premature …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
