Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Ukraine’s Finally Got a Cybersecurity Strategy. But Is It Enough?
Ukraine has been battling for its independence not only in the fields of the Donbas, but also in cyberspace. Government networks have been subject to continuous cyber espionage, while other cyberattacks have disrupted a presidential election, blocked access to news media, and engaged in hacktivism and propaganda distribution. Although these...
Time for Ukraine to Assume Rightful Place in Global Energy Market
In the course of its reforms, Ukraine has launched one of its most critical markets, the energy market. The state economy is highly energy intensive, based on fossil fuels, and imports-dependent. After having lost 10 percent of its industrial coal and gas-bearing territories, the government needs to make up for its energy shortage. Meanwhile,...
Why I’m Optimistic about Ukraine’s New Government
The past two months have not been favorable for Ukraine’s image in the West. The unnecessary government crisis leading to the ouster of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his government has meant little progress on reform and lots of attention to politics. The strongest reform ministers—Natalie Jaresko, Aivaras Abromavicius, Oleksiy...
Shame on You, Netherlands
In a recent referendum, the Dutch people rejected the EU-Ukraine association agreement. Or rather, it was rejected by a majority of the just over 30 percent of Dutch people who decided to participate in this—for lack of a better word—joke.On the day of the referendum, a cartoon with the statement, “If you are voting against, find Ukraine on the...
Ukraine Must Fully Implement IMF Program, says Former Finance Minister
Ukraine’s new government must fully implement the International Monetary Fund’s financial assistance program and undertake “painful reforms,” the country’s former Finance Minister, Natalie Jaresko, said on April 14. Jaresko spoke at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council hours after learning she had lost her job in a government...
Ukraine, Let’s Build a Country that the Dutch and All of Europe Will Embrace
Shall we live the old way? What are the lessons for the government of Ukraine from the referendum in the Netherlands?Let’s begin with gratitude to the hundreds of colleagues and friends who in recent days worked to urge the people of the Netherlands to support Ukraine in the referendum.We lost and Holland lost too. The strength and the...
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...
