Petro Poroshenko, the new Ukrainian President elect, is one of the wealthiest men of his country, but he is not an oligarch in the sense that he hasn’t made his fortune by getting government contracts and concessions. He actually is the only exception to the rule, that all business tycoons of this badly governed state, […]What options the new President of Ukraine has?
May 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Petro Poroshenko, the new Ukrainian President elect, is one of the wealthiest men of his country, but he is not an oligarch in the sense that he hasn’t made his fortune by getting government contracts and concessions. He actually is the only exception to the rule, that all business tycoons of this badly governed state, […]Who threatens the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians?
May 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
People who fail to recognize that the stalemate in Ukraine cannot be resolved unilaterally by military force are not only very dangerous but are political, if not common law, crooks. For example, the appointed by the Maidan ‘regiments’, Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a lieutenant of the corrupt ex-Prime Minister Jylia Tymoshenko, while in Odessa […]What the G7 wants to do in eastern Ukraine
April 28, 2014 by 4 Comments
It took only hours for the West and Russia to discover, after their 17 April Geneva agreement, that the situation in Ukraine is much more complicated than they wanted to make the rest of the world and the public opinion in their home countries believe. The belief that a few men, representing the Organisation […]The West and Russia took what they wanted from Ukraine
April 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, in Geneva the representatives of the EU, the US and Russia did on Ukraine what the European Sting said they were about to do; partition the poor country. By the way, the Ukrainian ‘Foreign Minister’ Andriy Deshchytsia was around, while the three were negotiating about the future and the actual existence of his country, […]Russia and the West use the same tactics to dismember Ukraine
April 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It’s amazing how much distanced from reality the EU’s foreign policy must be, under the permanent Council Presidency of Lady Catherine Ashton. There is no other explanation than this, if one takes seriously the agenda of yesterday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, under the chair of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs […]The EU invites the US and Russia to partition Ukraine
April 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
With an announcement of a few words, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton announced yesterday that Ukraine accepted to participate in a meeting planned to take place in Geneva together with representatives of Russia, the EU and the US. The international relations tradition and practice has it, that whenever a weak country, tormented by existential internal […]Obama, Crimea and the TTIP pill
March 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It was two days ago, Wednesday 26 March, that the President of the USA paid us a visit here in Brussels and caused a congestion chaos in the Belgian capital. The reason of his visit was to sell. To sell ideas about freedom, NATO membership ‘upgrades’ and a bit of shale gas. As sales are […]Ukraine: turning challenges into opportunities
March 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last Friday Ukraine and the EU signed the political part of the Association Agreement. Although deliberately diminished in Europe, the significance of this event is unquestionable for Ukraine and its government ad interim.
Political association is taken in Kiev as a sign of European acknowledgment and recognition at a time of continuing threats from Russia. The economic part […]Crimea, a wicked game of political chess and a ‘big’ coincidence
March 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last Friday, 21 March, was a historic day in modern geopolitical proceedings. A former Soviet Union member was opening its door to the European Union while just a few hours later a significant part of the same country was being annexed by Russia. The former sentence on its own could have been taken from a […]Ukraine: Is there a political force able to undo the division?
March 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council condemned the illegal referendum in Crimea and took restrictive measures against 21 Russian and Crimean politicians and military officers. Also on Monday, probably without understanding what they were doing, the 28 European Foreign Ministers had the unfortunate idea to discuss during the same meeting the present state of […]Crimea: The last bloodless secession of a Ukraine region?
March 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
There is no doubt about the outcome of the referendum on Crimea’s future annexation to Russia. It’s not only that 68% of the Crimean population is of Russian origin and speak Russian. The omnipotent presence of the Russian armed forces in the peninsula, the transparent ballot boxes and the fact that there are no envelopes […]How the EU sees its own and Russia’s role in Ukraine
March 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, after yesterday’s European Union summit of its 28 leaders convened to examine the situation in Ukraine, termed it as stormy. He added that the sanctions against Russia the 28 decided were very limited but still, given the deep divisions of the leaders, he said those measures were the […]Ukraine: The West and Russia negotiate shares of influence
March 6, 2014 by 1 Comment
The seriousness of approach, the magnitude of the interest and the pertinence of the proposal the European Union adopted yesterday to end the stalemate in Ukraine can be seen in the kind of money the EU sets aside for this country. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission stated yesterday that the Union can […]Europe enters uncharted waters with Kiev-Moscow standoff
March 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
With a brief announcement of the G7, the West is practically recognising the occupation of Crimea by the Russian armed forces as a ‘fait accompli’ and by the same token the dismembering of Ukraine. The announcement signed yesterday by the G7 heads of states or governments, even accepts that Russia has “security or human rights […]Ukraine’s new political order not accepted in Crimea
February 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
With the blessed by the West Julia Tymoshenko’s men in control of Kiev’s political scenery, and Russian army units or paramilitary units of Crimean Russians in control of the Black Sea southern peninsula, the Ukrainian division seems to consolidate. The EU and the US have practically recognized the new political order which is now established […]Can the US deal a blow to EU and Russia together over Ukraine?
February 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Within 24 hours the agreement that the European Union brokered in Ukraine was turned into a worthless paper by around 200 MPs and some hundreds of heavily armed ‘protestors’ in Kiev. Given that the power behind this radical change in the Parliament couldn’t be Russia or the EU it has to be Ukraine’s proper oligarchs, […]Russia won’t let Ukraine drift westwards in one piece
February 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Somebody must stop this person heading Europe’s diplomacy in the External Action service. Yesterday Catherine Ashton broke all limits in two successive statements, one for Libya and another for Ukraine. Even if she doesn’t mind her own credibility and political correctness, her bosses in, London, Berlin and Paris have to think again if she adds […]Sochi not far away from Ukraine
February 8, 2014 by 1 Comment
On the day the Russian organizers of the $51 billion Winter Olympic Games staged the opening ceremony in Sochi, the European Union found the opportunity to talk to Moscow about pigs, European pigs. Yesterday, Friday 7 February, Health Commissioner Tonio Borg called once more on the Russian Federation to “engage in constructive talks on the […]The US banks drive the developing world to a catastrophe
January 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
How is it possible that the good news of the growth of the American economy which has raised its gear, also brings forth crisis and possibly destruction in developing countries? Yet this is exactly what is already happening in our brave new world. The good news is that the US economy now grows at a […]EU-Russia summit in the shadows of Kiev’s fumes
January 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In the shadows of fume of the protest fires in Kiev’s Independence Square, the 32nd EU-Russia summit is expected to take place in Brussels this Tuesday. It will end with a working lunch, without an official dinner being held. The EU side dropped it as an indication of deep concern about Moscow’s role in Ukraine. […]High level political talks didn’t break the stalemate in Ukraine
January 24, 2014 by 1 Comment
Yesterday Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych held talks with the leaders of the opposition as he promised to EU President Manuel Barroso during their telephone conversation earlier on the day. But this was all Yanukovych did to fulfil his promise to the EU leader. After many hours of talks, the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition coming […]Ukraine turns again to the EU for more money
December 13, 2013 by 2 Comments
Yesterday’s development, with half the Ukrainian government under deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzovin in Brussels to discuss and possibly sign the Association Agreement with the EU, in exchange of more financial aid of the order of at least €18 billion, is a clear sign that the country is really in dire straits. Last week President […]Who cares about the unity of Ukraine?
December 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
During the weekend, the new wave of pro-EU protests in central Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, against the government’s last minute decision to drop out from an agreement with the European Union and instead sign one with Russia, shows the deep division between the pro-western and pro-Moscow parts of the population of this country. For one […]Ukraine pays the price for lying between Russia and the EU
December 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, it was a difficult day in Brussels with the EU’s Eastern Partnership under stress, because of the violent suppression of the pro-western street protests in Kiev. This same day the Russian President Vladimir Putin – the architect of Ukraine’s changing sides and joining Moscow’s Eurasian Union – chose to go to Yerevan to meet […]Who is culpable in the EU for Ukraine’s defection to Russia?
December 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The 350,000 to 500,000 people who protested yesterday, even violently at times, in the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, belonged, theoretically, to the three opposition parties, which had organised the rally. Unquestionably however, all Ukrainians believe that President Viktor Yanukovich – who decided at the last minute to turn down an Association Agreement with […]The EU accuses Russia of bullying Ukraine to change sides
November 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It took four days to European Union two presidents to grasp the magnitude of the Ukrainian full U-turn, with Kyiv signing the Moscow led customs union, after cashing in the advance of EU’s financial aid. The unprecedented complete turnaround of Ukraine’s foreign policy took place last Thursday and the President of the European Commission José […]Ukraine takes EU money and runs to sign with Russia
November 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, Ukraine threw away in the dustbin EU’s ultimatum issued last Monday by the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius during the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Lithuania currently holds the EU Council Presidency, representing the entire Union. Linkevičius said that “Ten days remain for Ukraine and the European Union to take crucial […]Ukraine undecided over a strategic partnership with the EU
November 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Eastern Partnership, EU’s major and expensive initiative to extend its influence up to the southern borders of Russia is faltering dangerously. Ukraine doesn’t seem ready to sign the Partnership, after Armenia recently rejected it. This is the second opening of the European Union to Eastern Europe, after the successful historic enlargement of the Union […]New European frontiers for renewable energy development
October 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
On 15-16 October 2013 Kyiv hosted the Fifth International Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Forum. Organized by the IBCentre and Association of Alternative Fuel and Energy Market Participants of Ukraine, this annual event has become a discussion platform for the key alternative energy stakeholders and regional experts in wind, solar, hydro and biomass energy matters, […]Snowden is the “EU nomination” for this year’s Oscars
September 30, 2013 by 4 Comments
After last June’s revelations about the PRISM scandal you can actually feel it that the air in world politics has less oxygen. The leaders of the major world powers, EU, USA and Russia faced severe respiratory issues during this period. Obama is still suffering from severe panic attacks, Putin broke the window to get some […]EU deserves the title of the Syrian affair merchandiser
September 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
With the US-Russian agreement on chemical weapons in Syria the world economy and more so Europe avoided a new blow, at a time when the resumption of business activities, especially in the European south, prove to be more fragile than expected. There is no doubt that this development defused the tensions which run high after […]Why capital markets have no more reservetions about Eurozone
September 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Borrowing on international markets is not at all a straightforward activity. Things are even more complicated when it comes to long-term debt paper with maturities spanning to decades. This little theory tells a lot about Eurozone’s creditworthiness. As a matter of fact, during the last few weeks the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) borrowed from […]Obama turns the G20 summit into warmongering platform
September 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In an unprecedented move the American President Barack Obama asked yesterday all and each one of the G20 leaders participating in the Saint Petersburg summit to back ‘his’ war against Syria by signing a paper (joint declaration) authorising the US to use military force. This is an attempt by the US to neutralise the United […]
