Crossroads Digest 3/2008

Ukraine and Belarus are the two countries which today constitute the main part of the strategically important “new” Eastern Europe. Since 2004 they have been sharing a common border with the European Union (the EU) and have become potential candidates for the EU membership. In the 1990s Ukraine and Belarus were commonly perceived as part of the “grey” zone between Russia and the EU and were believed to be in the sphere of Moscow’s legitimate geopolitical interests. However, the EU enlargement to the East and the relative political stabilisation in the Balkans have made these countries more visible for Brussels. Western disappointment with Russia’s democratic reforms and Putin’s politics in the “near abroad”, especially his use of “gas blackmail”, seen as a potential threat for European security in general, are additional factors explaining the EU’s increasing interest in Ukrainian and Belarusian affairs. The engagement of Brussels and of some European governments in Ukrainian affairs during the Orange Revolution, the growing political pressure on Lukashenka’s regime and the introduction of sanctions against Belarus officials indicate a serious commitment of the EU for this region.

• Месца выхаду: Vilnius
• Дата выхаду: 2008
• Рэдактар: Bobkov Igor
• Выдавец: European Humanities University, Center for Advanced Studies and Education (CASE), the project «Social Transformations in the Border­land: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova»
• Copyright: © 2007 by European Humanities University, Center for Advanced Studies and Education (CASE)
• Кнігазбор: Kamunikat.org
• Дадатковая даведка: Scientific Council: Anatoliy Mikhailov (Belarus), Doctor of Philosophy, Natalka Chernysh (Ukraine), Doctor of Social Sciences, Yaroslav Gritsak (Ukraine), Doctor of History, Virgiliu Birladyanu (Moldova), Doctor of History, Dmitri Karev (Belarus), Doctor of History, Dimitru Moldovan (Moldova), Doctor of Economy; EHU expresses its sincere gratitude for assistance and financial support of the project to Carnegie Cor­poration, New York.