Ukraine’s opposition has major flaws and should make itself worthy of support, but democratically minded Ukrainians should prefer an adrift opposition to the authoritarian alternative, Alexander Motyl, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, notes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

The signing, scheduled to take place at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in November, is far from a done deal, writes Forbes.

Yulia Timoshenko`s case and its influence on the future of EU-Ukraine relations were one of the biggest issues discussed at the 6th Europe-Ukraine forum held in Budapest.

Ukraine has six months to meet EU terms for signing the association agreement instead of a May deadline the 27-nation bloc has set for improving its judiciary and electoral system, according to the Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius.

There still doubts remain in EU on Victor Yanukovych's intentions concerning foreign policy of Ukraine, Andrew Rettman, journalist of EUobserver, writes in his article.

European Commission adopted today the proposals for Council Decisions on the Signing and Provisional Application, and on the Conclusion, of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, states the official website of the organization.

The future course of Ukraine as a bridge between Europe and Russia is of crucial importance to both sides, Bruce M. Rickerson who formerly served in a professional capacity with the Organization of American States, the U.S. Department of State, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee writes in his opinion for UPI.

If used cleverly holding of referendum in Ukraine could actually hasten the Party of Regions disappearance from Ukrainian politics, Alexander Motyl, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, writes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

“Kiev’s attempt to return to talks with the EU about the consortium should be seen as an attempt to strengthen its own position in its negotiations with Russia,”expert at Center for Eastern Studies, Polish think-tank, says in his analytical report for the institution.

Ukraine, Belarus and Serbia are the most likely candidates in Europe to "die" first because of the "want out" phenomenon, Edward Hugh, a Welsh economist and blogger, wrote in his article on A Fistful of Euros blog platform.

Celebrating 9 May as Victory Day is Soviet legacy, says historian Volodymyr Viatrovych, chair of academic board at the Centre for Research on the Liberation Movement, in a commentary to The Ukrainian Week.

More than 1622 Ukrainian scientists (with PhD) have left the country between 1996 and 2011 in a comment for The Ukrainian Week informs State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

NaUKMA got into "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities", writes Andreas Umland DAAD Associate Professor of Political Science, National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" on his page in Facebook.

During his meeting with Andriy Klyuyev, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council EU- Commissioner emphasise that there are still several questions for signing Association Agreement remain unsolved.

PACE confirms the powers of Batkivshchyna MP Andriy Shevchenko replacing Serhiy Vlasenko in the Ukrainian delegation, The Ukrainian Week’s journalist reports from Strasbourg. Vlasenko was stripped of his MP mandate earlier.

The deadline for fulfilment of 11 requirements for signing the Association Agreement is May 15. Still, neither experts, nor politicians or citizens truly believe that Ukraine will manage to meet this deadline.

Pieter Omtzigt, Dutch politician, member of the Christian Democratic Appeal and member of the EPP Group at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, questions the powers of Ukrainian delegation to PACE after Serhiy Vlasenko, lawyer for Yulia Tymoshenko, was stripped of his MP mandate, reports The Ukrainian Week’s correspondent from Strasbourg.

Narodna Mudrislt (Folk Wisdom), a cartoon series produced by the National Television and Radio Company (NTKU), won an LA-based Universe Multicultural Film Festival award, NTKU reports.

Aleksander Kwasniewski and Pat Cox together with Martin Schulz have all reasons to be satisfied with the jon they have done in Ukraine, Marek Siwiec, member of European Parliament, writes in his blog on BlogActiv.

The special mission of the European Parliament to Ukraine, headed by former President of European Parliament Pat Cox and former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski has been extended to September, according to Jacek Protasiewicz, EP vice president.

Ukrainian journalists, civil society representatives, NGOs and young people will find it easier to get short-stay visas for trips to the EU thanks to visa deals backed by EP on Thursday, says the statement of the institution.

EU should sign the final Agreement even if not every reform called for has been put into effect, provided Yulia Tymoshenko is released, Peter Hannaford, a member of the Committee on the Present Danger, claims in his article for The American Spectator.

“The positions of all member states are now coalescing around the vision of waiting for the situation on the ground to improve while keeping the option of signing the agreement open,” Olga Shumylo-Tapiola, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, writes in her article published on the website of think-tank.

The limitation of Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwasniewski mission is their “closed door” policy, Hanne Severinsen, PACE co-Rapporteur in 1995-2008, told The Ukrainian Week.

If EU-Ukraine Association Agreement is not signed, Yanukovych will finally be completely isolated, Alexander Motyl, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, writes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

The over all climate of repressions in Ukraine has not been improved so far, Viola von Cramon, a member of the "Alliance '90/The Greens" group in the Bundestag, said in a comment to The Ukrainian Week.

“Ukrainian officials will find that despite the enormous cost and difficulty involved in completing the Association Agreement, a signing ceremony in Vilnius is only the beginning,” Matthew A. Rojansky, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, claims in his opinion for CNN.

“Instead of focusing on Moscow’s efforts to reabsorb Ukraine the U.S. State Department has given priority to pressuring Kiev on issues relating to democracy, human rights and the rule of law areas,” James A. Lyons, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, was commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations, writes in his opinion for The Washington Times.

After Yuriy Lutsenko`s pardon EU must not expect any real democratisation of Ukrainian political system, Tadeusz A. Olszański, expert at Center for Eastern Studies, Polish think-tank, says in his analytical report for the institution.

ECHR revealed “a legislative lacuna concerning freedom of assembly which has remained in Ukraine since the end of the Soviet Union” when reaching their judgement in the case of Vyerentsov v. Ukraine, is stated on Council of Europe official website.

Amnesty International urged Ukrainian authorities to stop the high level of torture and other ill treatment which is being carried out by its police, is said in a statement on the official website of the organization.

“Despite winning rare praise from the West for freeing an opponent from jail, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich is likely to resist extra pressure and the lure of trade deals to release his fiercest rival, ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko,” writes Reuters.

Viktor Yanukovych`s chances of inking landmark association and free trade agreements with the EU are as uncertain as the fate of Yulia Tymoshenko, notes The Economist.

Freedom House welcomed the pardon of several former government officials in Ukraine and called on President Viktor Yanukovych to take similar action on Tymoshenko.

Yuriy Lutsenko`s pardon has only given Ukraine some time, Pawel Kowal, member of the European Parliament and Chair of EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, notes in his opinion for New Eastern Europe.

“The pardons are certainly good signs, but while they might halt the deterioration in relations with the EU, the talks on the EU trade deal remain at an impasse,” claims Business New Europe.

“Yuriy Lutsenko's pardon means very little for Ukraine’s democratic process, as the current ruling powers are determined to remain in that position,” writes Forbes.

Yuriy Lutsenko release from prison could be seen as a first step towards the Association Agreement, Hanne Severinsen, PACE co-Rapporteur in 1995-2008, told The Ukrainian Week.

Thorbjørn Jagland, Council of Europe Secretary General, and Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) have welcomed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s pardon of former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, is stated on the Council of Europe official website.

Yuriy Lutsenko pardon is an important step by the Ukrainian authorities in addressing the concerns regarding the matter of selective justice, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, said in a joint statement.

EU will continue to monitor closely developments in Ukraine and the full implementation Foreign Affairs Council and EU-Ukraine Summit conclusions, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, said in a statement.

Ukraine is not following any particular route at the moment, claims The Economist.

Not signing the Association Agreement will be a clear “lose-lose” situation for both the E.U. and Ukraine. Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, the ambassador of Ukraine to the European Union, writes in his opinion for The New York Times.

In Ukraine political power is a means of enrichment rather than governance while the opposition politicians are an extension of the business groups they claim to fight, writes The Economist.

Party of Regions’ and Communist Party MPs, as well as independent MPs, the total of 244, have voted to hold the parliamentary session at an alternative location, 6/8 Bankova Street, rather than the current parliament building at Hrushevskoho Street.

A referendum to change the system of parliamentary election from mixed to first-past-the-post will put an end to democracy in Ukraine, claims Iryna Bekeshkina, President of the Democratic Initiatives foundation in her comment for The Ukrainian Week.

“Western interests and values are best served by engaging Ukraine as a solid European partner”, Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission, wrote in his opinion for The Christian Science Monitor.

EU has never promised full membership to Ukraine, whereas Eurasian economic union has done it from the outset, Vladimir Chizhov, Russian representative to EU, told in his interview to EurActiv.

For Yanukovych, the advantages of good PR do not outweigh the discomfort associated with ruining his ostrich-leather shoes, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, writes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

“Pro-regime political forces in Ukraine have always spent a lot more on political consultants and lobbyists in Washington than the democratic opposition,” Taras Kuzio, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University-SAIS in Washington, claims in his opinion for UPI.

After four years, the EU's Eastern Partnership (EaP) has not delivered any tangible political or social results, Olaf Osica, director of the Centre of Eastern Studies in Poland, said during the discussion in the European Parliament.

After record snowfall Ukraine can do nothing to prevent the economy falling into recession in the first quarter of 2013, after GDP growth of 0.2 per cent in 2012, writes Financial Times.

Western sanctions could hurt the weakest part of Ukrainian society and push the country in the Russian arms, Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission, noted at the Europe’s Eastern Neighborhood and the Future of the Eastern Partnership discussion held at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on Marh 14.

Visegrad states could play a special role in promoting the liberalization of EU visa requirements for its eastern neighbours, Marta Jaroszewicz, senior research fellow at Centre for Eastern Studies, notes in her article for Visegradrevue.

It is important for EU to open door for Ukraine without fighting Russia, Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission, noted at the Europe’s Eastern Neighborhood and the Future of the Eastern Partnership discussion held at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on March 14.

“The failure of Western governments to achieve their goals in Tymoshenko’s case corroborates a hypothesis about the limits of the EU’s democratic conditionality in relations with authoritarian states,” Serhiy Kudelia, assistant professor of political science at Baylor University, writes in his article for Problems of Post-Communism magazine.

“Ukraine can look to the U.S. for examples on how to work toward compromise,” Peter Hannaford, a member of the Committee on the Present Danger, once close associated with the late President Ronald Reagan, writes in his article for The American Spectator.

A compromise among relevant political actors in Ukraine will only be of benefit to Ukraine's stability and international standing and would bolster U.S. ties, Bruce M. Rickerson who formerly served in a professional capacity with the Organization of American States, the U.S. Department of State, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee writes in his opinion for UPI.

President Viktor Yanukovych regime and his Family will first and foremost benefit from shale gas extraction in Ukraine, Alexander J. Motyl, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, writes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

“Despite its claims to the contrary, the European Union has faced difficulties in its relationships with neighboring states in its periphery, most notably Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia,” notes global intelligence company Stratfor.

“A return to the presidential system, coupled with a stable and disciplined parliamentary majority, has given President Viktor Yanukovych unprecedented political powers,” write political analysts Sławomir Matuszak and Arkadiusz Sarna in their report From stabilisation to stagnation. Viktor Yanukovych's reforms.

“The president Viktor Yanukovych Family seems to be following the principle of “more for me” in managing the state and economy,” write Jana Kobzova, policy fellow and programme coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations and Balazs Jarabik, an associate fellow at FRIDE and the Central European Policy Institute, on their article for ECFR The EU's relationship with Ukraine: fling or partnership?

The new tax on bank deposits in the offshore tax haven is unlikely to hit Ukrainian businesses and wealthy individuals hard as they keep large amounts of funds elsewhere, expert says.

“After the summit held on February 25 in Brussels the EU-Ukraine relations are further deteriorating,” Amanda Paul, Policy Analyst and Programme Executive at The European Policy Centre, argues in her blog on Turkish newspaper Today`s Zaman.

“Viktor Yanukovych must sense that his own cadres are grumbling and could at some point even be tempted to go against him,” Alexander J. Motyl, American historian and professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, writes in his blog on The World Affairs Journal.

New car duties on car imports protect Ukrainian oligarchs but risk infuriating fellow WTO members, FT writes.