Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shows a newly voted Ukrainian law about the ratification of the Ukraine-EU association agreement on Sept. 16, 2014 at the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv.
A majority of Ukrainians back EU membership. We may have grave doubts about the EU as an institution, but Ukraine’s government has every right to act on the will of its people.
From the moment that Ukraine emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union more than two decades ago, the country’s leaders have grappled with the supreme question of whether to face east or west. Yesterday, they gave an emphatic answer, when their parliament formally ratified Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the European Union. From now on, the country is committed to sweeping reforms that should end up with EU membership.
The passage of this deal marks the culmination of years of struggle. One Ukrainian leader after another has struggled to deliver this agreement – and Russia has used every possible method, including force, to sabotage their efforts. When Viktor Yanukovych, the previous president, bowed to Russian pressure and broke a promise to sign the Association Agreement last year, he provoked the mass protests that eventually swept him from power during the revolution in February.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shows a newly voted Ukrainian law about the ratification of the Ukraine-EU association agreement on Sept. 16, 2014 at the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv.
Tragically, Ukraine has finally passed the agreement at a moment of all-consuming crisis. Russia has seized Crimea and incited rebellion in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The Kremlin has also cut off Ukraine’s gas, forcing the country to raid its storage capacity and rely on “reverse flow” supplies from Poland. Meanwhile, the economy will shrink by 7 per cent this year and President Petro Poroshenko’s newly elected government must oversee a hand-to-mouth existence to stave off national bankruptcy.
All the evidence suggests that a solid majority of Ukrainians back EU membership. We may have grave doubts about the EU as an institution, but Ukraine’s government has every right to act on the will of its people. By the same token, Russia has no right whatever to stand in Ukraine’s path and seek at every turn to obstruct the legitimate choice of its people.
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