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?