The vivid image of democracy - in colour orange - made many Europeans emotionally attached to the idea of Ukrainian EU membership. That is likely to change, writes Andreas Umland. The country is today facing a dangerous anti-democratic challenge — from the new President’s authoritarian turn on the
On the eve of Ukraine’s election, Andreas Umland rebukes Europe for its indecisive policy towards Ukraine. By refusing to offer Ukraine a clear prospect of eventual EU membership, the EU has exacerbated the country’s political problems in ways which could prove disastrous.
Ukraine is about to go to the polls to elect a new president. Though the election is unlikely to provoke a violent escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, politicians and bureaucrats on both sides should start thinking how to react in case it does happen, warns Andreas Umland
Through the Orange Revolution in 2004 Ukraine turned its back on authoritarian politics and started on the bumpy road towards democracy, says Andreas Umland, reviewing the cream of recent scholarship in this second article marking the fifth anniversary of that event. That was what really riled the
On the fifth anniversary of the Orange Revolution, with presidential elections in Ukraine imminent, Andreas Umland looks back on how the Kremlin has spun the events of 2004, and how that version has played back in Ukraine
Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU some day may have been improved by changes in the German cabinet, observes Andreas Umland.
Westerners visiting Ukraine and observers analysing the post-Soviet space talk a great deal about Kyiv politics today being a "mess." Few, least of all Ukrainians themselves, would
Over the past few years various forms of nationalism have become aspects of everyday Russian political and social life. Among others, ultra-nationalist theoretician Alexander Dugin, a marginal conspiracy theorist
The Caucasus war of August 2008 was a shock to Russian-Western relations. The West's timid reaction to the five-day conflict and to Russia's de
In a poll by FOM-Ukraina in mid-November 2008, Viktor Yushchenko's popularity reached a new low. With 3% of the respondents saying they would vote for him
Yeltsin's 1993 Constitution, which is still valid today, has never been a particularly balanced basic law. The Russian political system is called ‘semi-presidential.' It has even
"Sorry? I didn't get that!" - exclaimed the journalist Matvei Ganopolsky on the radio station "Ekho Moskvy" (Echo of Moscow). It was the evening of
