Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
How to Solve Ukraine’s Security Dilemma
The Case for a New Security Pact between the Baltic and Black Seas A main reason for the recent escalation of tensions in Eastern Europe is the absence of an effective security structure encompassing such militarily weak countries as Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. While Ukrainian public opinion has recently made a U-turn from a rejection to an...
“Putin’s Not Finished,” Warns Former Defense Official Evelyn Farkas
On April 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly announced creation of a National Guard, of up to 400,000 personnel, to control drug trafficking and terrorism.But former Pentagon adviser Evelyn Farkas has a different take: “I see this as riot control.”Putin is distracting attention from bad economic news, due to sanctions, she said. “This...
In Odesa, Protesters Demand that Poroshenko Restore Honest Prosecutor
Several hundred protesters have camped out in front of the regional prosecutor’s office in Odesa for the past two weeks demanding that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reinstate reformist Deputy Prosecutor General Davit Sakvarelidze, who also concurrently held the post of regional prosecutor of Odesa. Sakvarelidze’s replacement,...
Parliament Considers Bill that May Derail Ukraine’s Visa-Free Travel Again
While the chattering classes in Kyiv remain riveted by the startling revelations from the Panama Papers and the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Kyiv’s activists are fighting to prevent the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, from passing a draft asset forfeiture law that could derail Ukraine’s ability to obtain...
Prime Minister Yatsenyuk Resigns. Why Now? What’s Next?
On April 10, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk submitted his resignation, and on April 12 parliament is expected to approve Speaker of Parliament Volodymyr Groisman as prime minister. It is, of course, good that Ukraine’s two-month long government crisis is being resolved, but it is not evident that the new government will be...
The Economics of Ukraine’s Political Crisis
Ukraine’s current political crisis is easy to understand. It was unleashed by an offensive by the Poroshenko Bloc to get greater control over the government. It started on February 3, when Economy Minister Aivaras Abramovicius resigned in protest against Ihor Kononenko, the gray cardinal of the Poroshenko Bloc, and it was aggravated by the...
You Wouldn’t Think It from the Headlines, but Ukraine Is Making Progress
It’s been a rough several weeks for Ukraine in the news. From the firing of prominent reformer Davit Sakvarelidze from the Prosecutor General’s Office to the recent release of the “Panama Papers,” which seemingly link President Petro Poroshenko to several offshore accounts and sparked accusations from members of the Verkhovna Rada of...
How Ukraine Can Contribute to NATO’s Forward Defense
NATO has decided to bolster its military operations in Central Europe to better deter and, if necessary, defend against Russian aggression. Toward that end, Alliance military authorities have been tasked to develop plans for the deployment of multinational units, possibly battalions or brigades, that will be deployed on a persistent basis along...
Obama Silent on Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, While Putin Plans Shuttle Diplomacy
Absence of US Leadership May Have Consequences in Syria, Ukraine, and Beyond The United States has been conspicuously absent during the latest crisis over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK). The White House has not yet issued a statement on this unprecedented uptick in violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s...
New Schedule for Minsk Implementation Urgently Needed
For several months, the Minsk peace process has been in a stalemate. Meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four have failed to make progress on the issue of elections in the Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas.The fourth provision of the Minsk II agreement envisages that local elections should be discussed “in accordance with...
