Публікація на EUobserver

The latest death toll, according to Ukrainian officials, is 88 people (Photo: Jeroen Akkermans RTL News Berlin)
For many, the fight for genuine democracy, especially in view of the potential return of former PM Yulia Tymoshenko to power, is far from over.

For others, the smoke of uncertainty over the future of eastern and southern Ukraine is equally worrying.

How did we get here?

The tragic escalation in Ukraine after riot police tried to clear the EuroMaidan last Tuesday was a point of no return.

The death toll – the worst bloodshed in the modern history of the country – extinguished any illusion that anything but ousting the dictator, Yanukovych, would be acceptable to protesters.

You cannot negotiate with someone who has declared and waged war on his own people, whom he calls “terrorists.”

It was a dirty war: riot police tortured detained activists; hired criminals burned cars, beat, and killed protesters and journalists; rooftop snipers used live ammunition against medical volunteers.

Yanukovych utterly delegitimised himself.

Публікація на EUobserver

KIEV – EU capitals are beginning to reassess the Ukrainian people’s European aspirations, with attitudes shifting from wary “acknowledgements” to consideration of a real enlargement perspective.

The EU is still divided, but more positive messages from Berlin and Brussels, as well as Budapest, Warsaw, and Vilnius, reflect the importance of the popular uprising in Ukraine for the future of the continent.

It is high time: The EU’s language of “concern” has worn thin on the cold streets of Kiev.

Without a geostrategic vision for post-Soviet Europe, the EU’s “wait and see” policy has aggravated the risk of instability in the region.

People’s civil liberties and human rights were sacrificed in order to protect the status quo in Russia relations.

It has been shown, time and again, that if you leave a country in Russia’s sphere of influence, there is no chance of modernisation or democracy. But the “EuroMaidan” movement also shows that Ukrainians are not willing to be a buffer zone between the Eurasian Union and the European Union.

Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in a recent interview the West underestimated Russian determination on Ukraine.

Ukrainian opposition leaders are warning that Russian interference will stop at nothing, even if it risks breaking Ukraine apart.

How could EU governments let things get so bad on their own doorstep?