Why Ukraine Matters: Five Years after Euromaidan

The failure of building a democratic, rule of law-based state in Ukraine can lead to disastrous consequences for the country and the region, not to mention the long-term hopes of a democratic future in Russia.

ACTIVIDAD REALIZADA
20 noviembre 2019 - 09:00h
LOCALIZACIÓN: Espacio Bertelsmann, Calle O'Donnell 10, Madrid
ORGANIZADO POR: CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Madrid and the Representation of the European Commission in Spain within the framework of the Espacio Bertelsmann’s series “Diálogos Internacionales”

COLABORADORES (4):

Objetivo

A new stage unfolds in Ukraine. The country is facing yet another decisive period in the last five years. Ukrainians have voted massively for a new president, a newcomer to the political scene, and they have redesigned the previous Rada in the same way. In a semi-presidential system such as the Ukrainian, much depends on the balance of power in the parliament and its relationship with the executive and the president. Now, for the first time in the independent Ukraine, the three institutions are in the hands of one leader and his party. 

Three major factors continue to determine the prospects of building a rule of law-based and stable Ukraine, and addressing the challenges the country’s economy is facing: the progress of domestic reforms towards a state accountable to its citizens, Russia’s actions regarding the situation in the insurgent area of the Donbass and the scope of European Union support to Ukrainians’ democratic struggle. 

The failure of building a democratic, rule of law-based state in Ukraine can lead to disastrous consequences for the country and the region, not to mention the long-term hopes of a democratic future in Russia. Considering that regional and European stability is at stake every time a potential change of government takes place in one of the area’s countries, the political nature of the Ukrainian regime remains a key factor.

 

Archivos

Participantes

SPEAKERS

Francisco Belil

Francisco Belil

Vice President, Bertelsmann Foundation in Spain

Anna Bosch

Anna Bosch

Foreign Affairs Correspondent, TVE

Carmen Claudín

Carmen Claudín

Associate Senior Researcher, CIDOB, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

Daria Gaidai

Daria Gaidai

Foreign Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

Francisco Fonseca Morillo

Francisco Fonseca Morillo

Director, Representation of the European Commission in Spain

Olena Halushka

Olena Halushka

Head International Relations, Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), Kyiv

Wilfried Jilge

Wilfried Jilge

Associate Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin

Yulia Klymenko

Yulia Klymenko

Holos MP, Former Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Kyiv

Anna Korbut

Anna Korbut

Journalist, Chatham House, London

Andrei Kolesnikov

Andrei Kolesnikov

Senior Fellow, Carnegie Moscow Center

Miriam Kosmehl

Miriam Kosmehl

Senior Expert, Bertelsmann-Stiftung, Gütersloh

Anastasia Krasnosilska

Anastasia Krasnosilska

Servant of the People MP. Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, Kyiv

Pol Morillas

Pol Morillas

Director, CIDOB, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

María Pallares

María Pallares

Programme Coordinator, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Madrid

José Antonio Sabadell

José Antonio Sabadell

Director of Policy Planning, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation

Peter Wagner

Peter Wagner

Head Support Group for Ukraine at the European Commission and Director in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Brussels

Why Ukraine Matters: Five Years after Euromaidan ACTIVIDAD REALIZADA

09:00h Welcome

Pol Morillas, Director, CIDOB, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

Francisco Belil, Vice President, Bertelsmann Foundation in Spain

María Pallares, Programme Coordinator, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Madrid

Francisco Fonseca Morillo, Director, Representation of the European Commission in Spain

09:30h Is a new Ukraine in the making?

Where there have been reforms, they have been slower than the country requires. The country’s economy is still facing existential challenges. Reform of the judiciary and public administration, in particular, are badly needed if major battles such as the fight against Ukraine’s endemic corruption and getting rid of the oligarchic system of power are to be won.

After presidential and parliamentary elections: what do the results tell us? How much reform-oriented is the new leadership of the country? Will the new parliament prove more consistent with the requirements real reforms entail? Is this the generational change in decision-making positions that the country urgently needed?

Chair:    Carmen Claudín, Associate Senior Researcher, CIDOB, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

Olena Halushka, Head International Relations, Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), Kyiv

Miriam Kosmehl, Senior Expert, Bertelsmann-Stiftung, Gütersloh

Anastasia Krasnosilska, Servant of the People MP. Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, Kyiv

Yulia Klymenko, Holos MP, Former Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Kyiv

10:30h Debate

11:00h Coffee break

11:15h Ukraine’s foreign environment

The unsettled relationship with Russia

A political and lasting resolution of the armed conflict in the Donbass areas under the Russian-controlled insurgency does not seem to be close, even if the hostilities may cease. The Minsk agreement is not delivering, what could break the deadlock? How will the new Ukrainian administration speak to the Kremlin? Can the relationship with Russia be disentangled?

What can the European Union do for Ukraine?

The recent elections have not changed the pro-European orientation of the country. Kyiv needs –from the EU and from NATO- a clear and resolute support for the Ukrainian sovereignty. Brussels should look for a more decisive role, provided the required foreign assistance –in particular, in the economic sphere- is conditional on the completion of the democratic reforms that the Euromaidan strived for in 2014. But after visa liberalisation, what other leverages could Brussels make use of if integration is not on the horizon?

Chair:  Anna Bosch, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, TVE 

Anna Korbut, Journalist, Chatham House, London

Wilfried Jilge, Associate Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin

Andrei Kolesnikov, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Moscow Center

Daria Gaidai, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

Peter Wagner, Head Support Group for Ukraine at the European Commission and Director in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Brussels

12:15h Debate

12:45h Closing remarks

José Antonio Sabadell, Director of Policy Planning, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation