Europe

Despite frustration over the pace of reform, many Ukrainians remain cautiously optimistic about the country’s direction. The new government would be well-advised to take advantage of this resolve, and leverage it to usher in a more democratic system. 

Invoking Yogi Berra’s overused quote may seem cliché, but for Kyiv watchers, it seems a bit like “déjà vu all over again.” GMF's Steven Keil reports from the #boell2Ukraine Tour. 

The migrant crisis and the subsequent political turmoil have banished from our minds a conflict that has been fairly present in Europe for the past two years: the war in Eastern Ukraine.

There can be no normalisation of the relations with Russia as long as Moscow leads a war in the eastern Ukraine. This articles examines a new attempt to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

The recent attacks in Brussels have left everyone in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe in shock. People feel more and more helpless in the face of what seems to be, after the attacks in Paris last November and in January 2015, an increasingly destructive threat.

Days after the Paris attacks, Europe is only slowly awakening from a state of shock. The events served as a painful reminder of our vulnerabilities from within and the daunting threats we face from abroad. A reflection on seven challenges looming on Europe’s horizon. 

The Eastern Partnership summit in Riga has been tagged by the hosting Latvian minister of foreign affairs a “survival summit”. This implied that EU leaders might propose decisive actions to intensify relations with the Eastern Partnership countries in light of the Ukraine crisis. But to the disappointment of some of the Eastern European and South Caucasus countries, this did not happen.

The Ukrainian government should promote an inclusive, participatory and transparent constitutional process. Such a process could help de-escalate the current conflict and build confidence in the central government and its willingness to integrate all constituencies into Ukraine’s political system. 

On March 21, 2014 the political parts of the association agreement were signed between Ukraine and the EU. What does this mean, asks Dominik Tolksdorf: is the EU ready to put forward criteria for a reform in the country, and will Ukraine kick off such a reform agenda?