Opiniones (especial Ucrania)
1. Yanukovych Uncovered
Ivan Poltavets, Ievgenii Rovnyi, Inside Ukraine Special Issue, February 2010, International Centre for Policy Studies.
Twice Premier – first under President Kuchma and then under President Yushchenko, Mr. Yanukovych lost the 2004 Presidential election in a repeat run-off after the Supreme Court declared electoral fraud. Five years later, he has come back as a winner.
2. Ukraine Will Be a Bridge Between East and West
Viktor Yanukovych, The Wall Street Journal, 17 February 2010
Over the past month, Ukraine has demonstrated twice that it cherishes the values of democracy and the belief that it is important for people to vote. Ukraine's presidential election was validated by all of the major international observer groups as free, fair and transparent, which attested to the Ukrainian people's resolve for a democratic election. The people of Ukraine desired change and their voices were heard. Now we have the great responsibility to help our fellow countrymen, who have cast votes for me hoping for a better life.
3. Ukraine: Yanukovych’s Limited Mandate
Oleksandr Sushko, Open Democracy, 10 February 2010
Ukraine is a diverse nation with a strong civil society. This could restrain a potentially authoritarian political leadership. The “Orange” leaders may have lost the election, but a limited mandate means the new president will have to make concessions and Ukraine has a chance of remaining democratic and, therefore, on the European track, believes Oleksandr Sushko
4. Ukraine's revolution lives on
Natalia Shapovalova, 09 February, Guardian
The orange glow may have faded, but the country has shown that democracy at the ballot box is working
5. Curing 'Ukraine Fatigue'
Steven Pifer, 09 February 2010, The New York Times with International Herald Tribune
If Viktor Yanukovich, the winner of the presidential race in Ukraine, acts quickly to address his country’s pressing problems, he could move it out of the doldrums and cure the “Ukraine fatigue” afflicting Washington and most European capitals.
6. Revoluciones sin colores
José Ignacio Torreblanca, 08 Febrero 2010, El País
Las llamadas revoluciones de colores (naranja en Ucrania, de las rosas en Georgia y de los tulipanes en Kirguizistán) abrieron la esperanza de una pronta democratización de la esfera pos-soviética. Que en Ucrania, el presidente Víctor Yúshenko, que encabezó la revolución naranja, no haya pasado a la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales, y que el fraudulento candidato que aquella revolución depuso, Víctor Yanukóvich, surja como el ganador de los comicios -según los primeros sondeos-...
7. Is Ukraine turning its back on Europe?
Jakub Kulhanek, Martin Larys, EU Observer, 25 January 2010
After the first round of the presidential election in Ukraine, it is clear that the hasty rush towards Europe, advocated by outgoing President Yushchenko, has exhausted itself. The question looming ahead of the 7 February run-off is if Mr Yushchenko's successor is going to steer the country's foreign policy away from Europe.
8. Post-Orange Ukraine: The lesser evil?
Balázs Jarábik, Natalia Shapovalova, 21 January 2010, FRIDE
With Viktor Yanukovych, the largest opposition party leader, and Yulia Tymoshenko, the current Prime Minister, competing in the second round run-off of the presidential election in Ukraine on February 7, Ukrainians will have to elect ‘the lesser evil’. While the election result is difficult to predict, it is clear that Ukraine will continue to be politically turbulent in the short and mid-term. Although it is thought that the eventual loser will likely question the election results, no matter who wins, the two candidates are not generally perceived as capable of consolidating the country’s fragile democracy and improving governance.
9. Russia Reflects on Presidential Elections in Ukraine
Pavel Baev, 18 January2010, The Jamestown Foundation,
The outcome of the first round of elections in Ukraine is fairly clear, despite the usual procrastination with confirming the results, but it could have more impact on Russia’s stalled political modernization than the misanthropic political elite in Moscow expects. Taking a lesson from their utterly counter-productive involvement in the previous elections in fall 2004, the Russian leadership has remained demonstratively indifferent to the political battles in its most important neighboring state.
10. Economic policies of Ukraine's election frontrunners
Sabina Zawadzki, 18 January 2010, Reuters
The election will define how Ukraine, a former Soviet republic of 46 million people wedged between the European Union and Russia, handles relations with its powerful neighbours, and may help unblock frozen IMF aid for its ailing economy. Despite fierce accusations and recriminations in the run-up to the vote, analysts say the differences between Tymoshenko's and Yanukovich's economic policies are few and nuanced.
11. Ukraine’s Orange Revolution has grayed
Taras Kuzio and Rakesh Sharma, January 16, 2010, Global Post
The ongoing battles between the president and prime minister have produced political instability, forcing the country to hold two parliamentary elections in only three years, with the threat of a third election narrowly averted. The in-fighting has also resulted in shifting, short-lived alliances and back-room dealings that serve the interests of political leaders rather than the Ukrainian people.
12. Congratulations, Ukraine is an electoral democracy! Now what?
Olga Shumylo, Ihor Sheviakov, Maria Gutsman, Inside Ukraine Special Issue, January 2010, International Centre for Policy Studies
The OSCE and other international observers have been unanimous in their conclusions: the first round of Ukraine's Presidential election was both fair and transparent. Still, it's not clear for what and why Ukrainian voters cast their ballots. What impact did the international community have on this election? How should the results be interpreted and are there any surprises in store? What could happen to change the situation between the two rounds? Last but not least, where are the hidden obstacles in the run-off?
13. EU Observer Blog on Ukraine and Post-Soviet Space
Olena Prystayko
14. Opinions and Analysis on Current Politics in Ukraine
Blog of the Stasiuk Program for the Study of Contemporary Ukraine