Section: The Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland)
The moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is lifted in Ukraine
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) passed the Act on introducing an agricultural land market in Ukraine on 31 March at the second reading. The document envisages that the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land will be lifted on 1 July 2021. A transitional period will apply for two years – during this period only natural persons will...
The ongoing de-Ukrainisation of the Donbas
On 6 March the so-called People’s Council of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) unanimously voted to introduce changes to its constitution which will deprive the Ukrainian language of its status as a state language. As a result, Russian will function as the only official language. …read more Source:: Centre for...
Denys Shmyhal is the new Prime Minister of Ukraine
On 4 March, the Ukrainian parliament accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and with him the entire government (353 votes for the motion). Speaking before the vote, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked him for his work, while blaming the government for conducting an inefficient economic policy, overseeing a decline in...
Washington’s symbolic support – US Secretary of State in Minsk
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo visited Minsk on 1 February. This was the first visit of a US Secretary of State to Belarus in 26 years. He had visited Ukraine one day earlier, and subsequently travelled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. During his short visit, Pompeo met with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the Minister of Foreign Affairs...
No breakthrough at the Normandy Four summit in Paris
On 9 December, a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany was held in Paris under the so-called “Normandy Format” dedicated to resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. This was the first such meeting since 2016. The talks of the “Normandy Four” were followed by the first bilateral meeting of the presidents of Russia and...
The Steinmeier formula: in search of a compromise on the Donbas
On 1 October, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that an agreement had been reached to implement the so-called Steinmeier formula as part of resolving the conflict in the Donbas as part of the meeting of the trilateral contact group in Minsk. …read more Source:: Centre for Eastern Studies...
Repressions and electoral fraud: regional elections in Russia
Annual regional and local elections were held on 8 September in Russia. The officials elected included 16 governors, members of 13 regional parliaments (including in the occupied territories: Crimea and Sevastopol), city mayors, city council members and municipal councillors. For the Kremlin, the elections to Moscow City Duma (city council) and...
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners
After months of negotiations, on 9 September an exchange of prisoners took place between Russia and Ukraine, each side sending 35 people. According to media leaks, Ukraine had initially demanded the release of 150 prisoners, while the list submitted by Russia named 34 people. …read more Source:: Centre for Eastern Studies...
New hopes, old risks: the prospects for settling the conflict in Donbas
A working meeting was held on 2 September in Berlin as part of preparations so-called Normandy Format summit (leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France) for settling the conflict in Donbas. This will be the first such summit since 2016. …read more Source:: Centre for Eastern Studies...
Government of experts in Ukraine
On 29 August, Ukraine’s parliament voted through Oleksiy Honcharuk’s candidacy for the position of prime minister, together with the composition of the new government (see annex). The new cabinet received the support of the Servant of the People party and a large number of independent deputies (281 votes in total). The number of...
