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While negotiations on prospective signing by Ukraine the Association Agreement with the European Union are going on, President Viktor Yanukovych is still not sure where exactly he will be on the day of the final ratification.

President of Ukraine at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw, author: Anna Woźniak/Eastbook.eu, source: flickr.com
Observing the way Viktor Yanukovych is setting his foreign policy, one cannot avoid the impression that he has polished his political skill to near perfection. The juggling act based on swerving between Russia and the EU would seem familiar to those remembering the time of Leonid Kuchma’s presidency and his pragmatism, now adopted by the incumbent head of state. Nevertheless, after December 19, this trick is no longer going to work. On this date, Ynukovych is invited to both the EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev and Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) summit in Moscow.
The official closing of the negotiations related to signing the association agreement is planned for the meeting in Ukraine’s capital. It is though increasingly more doubtful whether authorities in Kiev would release Yulia Tymoshenko, an oppositionist leader – the necessary condition for initialling the agreement by the EU.
Perhaps this enigmatic answer given by Yanukovych , a response to the question what his exact plans for this day are, is just another set of a match played with EU politicians, an attempt at influencing the Union decision-makers in order to annotate the EU membership perspective, so highly desired by Ukrainians, into the AA. That we do not know, although certainly the absence of the president – whose presence is required to validate the document, at the EU-Ukraine summit (held in his own country) would lead to far-reaching consequences for Ukraine. First of all, the relationship with the European Union would be frozen, which in effect would deprive Yanukovych’s country of ability to lead on Russia with the help of the EU membership perspective. December 19, as each and every day of a year, has only 24 hours and the president will have to choose where he wants to be.
The most plausible reason for such an answer coming from Yanukovych might be information on his actual schedule coming too late from his advisers. The president can be really enigmatic, especially in a situation when he simply does not know what to say. However, if he continues to hesitate, quite a good solution for being locked in stalemate will be staying in a presidential residence and devoting his energy to getting to know the criminal law better.
Author: Helena Myhailenko
About herself: a citizen of Ukraine. I am currently studying political science and journalism at the University of Silesia, Katowice, and have a degree in law, East Ukraine Volodymyr Dahl National University. I have worked as a journalist in Kiev, writing on political, business and legal issues. Interests: the Eastern Partnership, Ukraine, Poland, Russia and psychology. I value information of all kinds, plus like travelling and nice people.
Translated by KD
The presence…
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…and some history
@anitsa35: The geopolitics of armed conflict settlement:
How did Russia affect the settlement of the 1991-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh war?
The List of Officially Concerned about the results of the Eurovision song contest is growing – alphabetically that would be Ilham Aliyev, Alexander Lukashenko, Sergey Lavrov…
Who paid whom for what & who should have voted differently…”why? because!” – read also on RFE/RL: Eurovision Vote Theft Claims Roil Russia, Azerbaijan.
And the famous Azerbaijani song before it fades away from the memory of avid Eurovision fans:
Belarus Digest tackles the issue of perceiving the Belarusian higher education system (within the country as well as “outside”…):
How Belarusian Is The Belarusian University In Exile?
Four Western Myths About Belarusian Higher Education
After the Krakow meeting of foreign ministers from V4 & EaP countries:
“If Ukraine and the EU do not sign the agreement, what is Plan B?”
There is no Plan B, answer Adam Reichardt & Giacomo Manca on New Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, “Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, has said he is skeptical about the prospects for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement”. (Interfax)
Aşıq Nargile, an ethnic Azeri Ashiq, performs ”Borçalı Poem”:
Learn more about the The Sayat Nova Project & the traditional music of the Caucasus.
Photo gallery by Onnik Krikorian
OSCE: the final report on the Presidential election Armenia, February 2013
&
(for desserts):
END OF THE CAROUSEL. Hardly fought election for Yerevan City Council consolidates President Sargsyan’s hold on power
by the Caucasus Elections Watch
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jubus_jj
2011-12-01 14:04:16
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