Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Great Expectations: Aspirant Nations See NATO Enlargement as Vital to Europe’s Stability
NATO membership for countries in the Balkans and for Georgia is crucial for the stability of Europe and will send a clear signal that Russia does not have a veto over the alliance’s enlargement plans, panelists, including officials from Macedonia and Georgia, said at the Atlantic Council on June 8. “The accession process into NATO has...
Ukraine’s Next Big Reform You Haven’t Heard of Yet
Ukraine watchers know all too well that for every success reported about the country, there are numerous setbacks. Yet there are encouraging signs currently occurring within the reform process, particularly at the local level.Perhaps the most successful reform is quietly taking place outside of Kyiv, and has the potential to reinvigorate civic...
Civil Society Gives Ukraine’s New Prime Minister Positive Marks
During almost eight weeks in office, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman has inspired largely negative reactions from Western analysts. Noting Groisman’s close relationship with President Petro Poroshenko, observers fret the young prime minister will merely function as a yes-man. His appointment was variously described as “same old,...
The Savchenko Effect
The release from a Russian prison and return of helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko to Ukraine has ignited speculation about her future political plans. Elected as the first candidate on the party list of Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc in the October 2014 parliamentary elections, Savchenko immediately entered politics upon her return to...
Ukraine Defies Anti-Semitic Stereotypes
Confronting a difficult history is no easy matter, particularly in Ukraine—a country caught between murderous regimes throughout the twentieth century. In his book Bloodlands, Yale historian Timothy Snyder places Ukraine at the center of a region where more than 14 million “non-combatants” were ruthlessly killed by the competing geopolitical...
Ten Reasons to Invest in Ukraine
Those who have invested in Ukraine so far have not been very happy with their return.At present, Ukraine’s gross domestic product is about $85 billion, approximately one-eighth of Poland’s GDP. The return on investment has been in proportion to that.Will things change?You can never be sure, but like before, Ukraine holds great...
Don’t Celebrate Ukraine’s New Judicial Changes Yet
Ukraine’s parliament has ignored warnings from human rights organizations and the Reanimation Package of Reforms and passed constitutional amendments and a bill on the judicial system which retain the old ways of exerting influence on judges. There was enormous pressure for judicial reform, and many of the changes are needed. The warnings,...
Ukraine Needs to Stop Dragging its Feet on Privatization
State-owned enterprises remain Ukraine’s Achilles’ heel. They are where political corruption spirals out of control with cronyism and backroom deals, and it is time to put an end to it. Privatization is the only real solution. No one has ever been popular by selling state assets and the timing is never right. Yet these companies...
A Saakashvili Party Comeback? Not in Georgia but Maybe in Ukraine
Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili is preparing for the launch of his political party later this year in Ukraine, but this has not prevented him from pondering a return to politics in his native Georgia. Georgian voters go to the polls on October 8 to elect a new parliament in a contest viewed as a referendum on the performance of Bidzina...
Europe Still in Denial as Russia Ushers in the Age of Hybrid Hostilities
European leaders will gather in June to discuss whether to extend sanctions against Russia over the Kremlin’s hybrid war in Ukraine. The current sanctions regime will likely remain in place, but the mere fact the subject is up for debate is evidence of Europe’s alarming refusal to acknowledge the new security reality facing the...
