Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership
Get Knocked Down, but Then Get Up Again: Why the EU Shouldn’t Be Pessimistic about Ukraine
Just days before the long-awaited Vilnius Summit, the “Black Thursday” decision by Ukraine’s government to postpone further steps towards signing a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union triggered a wave of “disappointment” throughout the EU’s political and policy establishment. European Parliament opposition leader Hannes Swoboda called the move “deplorable” , while on Twitter, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt bitterly concluded that “the politics of brutal pressure evidently work.” Perhaps most tellingly of all, EU ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombiński was photographed “holding his head in despair” during a critical parliamentary voting session.
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