Subtle Energy Independence

EBRD priorities are gradually shifting away from Russia. The investor is setting sights on Ukraine and has already renewed public sector lending

Wolfgang Ischinger: Mr. Putin is challenging the very bases of the vision of European integration

The Ukrainian Week talks to Wolfgang Ischinger, German diplomat who was the Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for National Dialogue Roundtables in Ukraine, on his work, European and Ukrainian co-existence with Russia, and security threats of the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia

No European Joy Without Ukrainian Alloy

The EU is beginning to take concrete action against its excessive dependence on Russian gas

Roderick Parkes: “The splits in the EU are completely different this time compared to the ones I’ve seen in the past”

The Ukrainian Week talks to Roderick Parkes, EU programme coordinator at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, about how united the EU is on resisting Russia, Germany’s idea of federalization, and how the current crisis has impacted the relations between Germany and Poland

Restraining Putin, not Russians

Western strategy is to try to focus especially on Putin himself and his entourage without arousing the blanket hostility and fear of ordinary Russians

Putin’s Regiment in the EU

The “referendum” in Crimea revealed Vladimir Putin’s partners in the EU. Most are minority radical parties which, according to his design, have to undermine the EU’s already quite unwieldy system from the inside with Moscow’s support

Lamberto Zannier: “Ukraine must protect itself. It should not become a victim of the clash of the EU and Eurasian Union policies. Therefore, a strong internal dialogue is important”

OSCE Secretary General talks to The Ukrainian Week about OSCE mission for the presidential election, the way the current crisis is changing the role of international organizations including the OSCE in the world, and about circumstances that would force it to revise its current toolbox

Dear Price for Cheap Popularity

By plunging Russia into a full-scale confrontation with the West to boost his own popularity ratings Vladimir Putin may be preparing his country for another sobering shock from the defeat in a conflict with the entire world

Is Russia Losing Allies?

Ever more Belarusians are imagining how the Crimean scenario would look in their own country – they don’t like it.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

As William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, held crisis talks with Ukraine’s new leaders in Kyiv at the weekend, London announced that it was pulling out of preparatory talks on the Sochi G8 summit, and warned President Putin that Russia’s actions could lead to war

Nils Muižnieks: Civil activists should organize to provide regular information about what it is going on in their regions to the international community. The world will be watching what happens in Ukraine very closely in the coming weeks and months

In early February, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks paid an urgent visit to Ukraine to assess the situation with human rights, including the way law enfrocers treated protesters, in Kyiv and regions. Based on his visit, a report will be drafted to be presented to the CoE Committee of Ministers. The Ukrainian Week talks to Mr. Muižnieks about his preliminary findings back in Strasbourg

The Right Model for the Right Europeans

How Vladimir Putin has become an example to European right-wing radicals

William Browder: Many people in London or Geneva have blood on their hands from handling blood money from former Soviet states

William Browder, the Founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, turned campaigner and began to wage war for justice after one of his lawyers, Sergei Magnitsky, was killed in a Moscow prison.

Don’t Miss Your Chance for a Future

US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt: “The situation today is not hopeless, but it requires tough decisions from the Ukrainian Government regarding a number of issues, which have been put off for far too long”

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski: “The President of Ukraine has lost his legitimacy”

A delegation from the European Parliament will visit Ukraine on January 28–30 to examine the situation surrounding the EuroMaidan first-hand. Meetings are planned with the Ukrainian leadership, opposition representatives and,k first and foremost, with the Presidium of the EuroMaidan

Western Role in Ukraine's Turmoil

Ukraine's crisis is as much an internal battle between competing identities as an external geopolitical struggle between integration and exclusion from the Western project

Gintautas Mažeikis: In Ukraine, the “small dog” of civil society has appeared next to the “big elephant” of the revolution

Gintautas Mažeikis, a Lithuanian political scientist and professor of the Kaunas University of Technology, speaks about the uniqueness of Ukraine’s EuroMaidan

Putin’s Expensive Victory

Under its current government, Ukraine may be a prize not worth winning

Transnistria – Moldova: Along a Non-Existing Border

Russian support is to become more crucial than ever for Transnistria in case Moldova establishes a free-trade zone with the EU

East European Immigrants in the UK: A Helping Hand, not a Burden

Despite the growing outcry over immigration, reports show that many immigrants work much harder than native Britons, contribute huge amounts in taxes, and add to employment opportunities

HOMO EUROPAEUS

Being in the centre of a clash between civilizations of the East and the West, Ukraine is both a detonator and an object of that clash. In many aspects, its choice is crucial to itself - and Europe's future

Who Needs a Democratic Azerbaijan?

Ilham Aliyev’s victory in the October 9 show election signals that the regime in Baku pushes Azerbaijan further into the authoritarian abyss with silent consent from the West

Starship Troupers

If starships are ever built, it will be in the far future. But that does not deter the intrepid band of scientists who are thinking about how to do it

Georgia’s Unknown President

The media are buzzing about how and why the “era of Saakashvili” came to an end. Some say that his page in history has been turned forever. Others are confident that the 45-year old is too young to bow out of politics.

Recipes for Consolidation

Sarmīte Ēlerte, ex-Minister of Culture of Latvia, talks about the successes and challenges in integrating the Russian-speaking community in Latvian society

Phantoms of Disintegration

The Kremlin's ineffective regional policy sparks decentralization