Elite-less

New appointments in the government are more of a window-dressing than an overhaul of the elite

Concrete Justice

Ukraine is governed by prison rules

The Language of True Diplomacy: the EU Put Political Correctness Aside in Dealing With Kyiv

Europe seems to finally have understood who it is dealing with in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president is taking a lot of abuse for his policies from one European official after another

A New Crimean Front

Crimea is implementing a project likely to neutralise the protest movement of the Crimean Tatars and in the future undermine the influence of the Mejlis

Luca Volontè: “The issue of the CoE’s sanctions against Ukraine arises automatically”

Luca Volontè chairs the European People’s Party, the biggest political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In his interview with The Ukrainian Week, Mr. Volontè evaluates the verdict in former minister Lutsenko’s case and suggests possible sanctions against Ukraine if the latter continues to ignore the CoE’s recommendations

Information on Officials: Temporarily Unavailable

The euphoria over the Law “On Access to Public Information” is gradually evaporating

Cadres Are Important

Recent appointments suggest that Yanukovych does not trust the Party of Regions’ “cadre reserve”

Kliuyev Appointed With Eye on Elections

Viktor Yanukovych continues reshuffling personnel after replacing chiefs of power structures

Getting Ready to Give “a Punch in the Face”?

The government is searching for mechanisms to offset the huge loss of popularity over the past two years. It appears that administrative leverage, manipulations and falsifications are going to be applied on a massive scale.

Offsetting Populism

The Constitutional Court is bringing social policy out of the legislative field to be manually managed by the government. This signals preparations for the election

The President's Secret Service

Whose interests will the new SBU Chief protect?

Court on Demand

The Constitutional Court is losing its reputation as an independent arbiter and is turning into yet another component of the presidential hierarchy

Lawyer Oleksiy Bahanets: “Not a Single Witness in Court Said That Yuriy Lutsenko Was Guilty”

Court hearings in the Yuriy Lutsenko case are over. So are lawyers’ debates. Just days ago, Kyiv Pechersk District Court ruled that the verdict would be announced on February 27. Apparently, prosecutors feel they have to rush, possibly to forestall the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights

Investigators On the Rise

Several law enforcement officers who were responsible for producing cases against Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko have been promoted. Intriguingly, almost all of them have been moved to Ivano-Frankivsk

Life After Euro 2012

If the Ukrainian government does not change its domestic policies, the country will face international isolation and subjugation to Russia after the 2012 European Football Championship

European Integration For the Sake of Appearance

Ukraine failed to make good on its commitments in its first year in the Energy Community and wants to pass the buck to the EU

The Price of Uncertainty

Ukraine is losing the fight for Azerbaijani gas to the more aggressive Russia and Turkey

Shot In the Foot

The current government is incapable of improving social justice even as it scrambles to imitate efforts to do so ahead of the autumn parliamentary election

How Ukrainians Turn Into Russians

In the past two decades, the number of people who identify themselves as Ukrainians and their share in Russia’s population has dropped in half.

Constrained Freedom: the Government is Cleansing the Information Space Prior to the Election

The closer the 2012 parliamentary election is, the more actively the government is curbing freedom of expression

Chairman of the PACE Socialist Group Andreas Gross: Kyiv May see Another Maidan

Andreas Gross criticized the actions of the Party of Regions, a political partner of the group he heads, in his interview with The Ukrainian Week

Davos and Cherry Varenyky

Attendees at the 2012 World Economic Forum in Davos primarily discussed the future of capitalism and a coming “great transformation.” Guests at Viktor Pinchuk’s “Ukrainian dinner” were told, unconvincingly, that Kyiv is on the right track.

Korolevska's Gambit

Will Natalia Korolevka’s ambitions work in favor of the ruling party?

In Search of a Scam for Two

The plans to decrease Ukraine’s dependence on Russian gas disclosed by Mr. Azarov’s Cabinet are still nothing more than a populist campaign. Thus, they look like yet another “mutually beneficial” deal with the Russian Federation

Energy Quasi-Empire

Some post-soviet republics have staunchly chosen to diversify their energy flows. As a result, they are successfully exiting the trap of energy dependence

What Impressed You Most in 2011?

Historians, diplomats, writers and musicians share their brightest memories of 2011 with The Ukrainian Week