Opportunity blown already

Here is a brilliantly written analysis from Andeas Umland in his recent article in 'The National Interest' : "How Ukraine Might Blow Its Historic Opportunity"

In any walk of life for any deal to be successfully concluded both sides have to negotiate in good faith and be flexible on one another's major concerns. Yanukovych has stubbornly refused to budge one millimetre to meet the concerns of the EU. The opening of the Scherban murder case against Tymoshenko is the clearest evidence of this.

Leaders across Europe are already making plans on how to disentangle themselves from the EU-Ukraine association agreement mess with minimum loss of face...

p.s. Yanukovych's performance at a spectacularly over-the-top round table, under-lit 'floating space ship' stage set, complete with swooping camera-work, zooming and editing,  and his responses to the planted sycophants in his televised 'Dialogue with the Nation' today resembled something emanating from North Korea or central Asia rather than anything similar seen in western European countries. It was numbingly cringe-making....'pokazukha'

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p.s. This from the Council of Europe:

Strasbourg, 21.02.2012 – Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report on “Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate” for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has said that it is urgent to address the status of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko as ‘political prisoners’ within the meaning of the definition adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly in October 2012.

Mr Omtzigt was speaking at the end of a three-day information visit to Ukraine (19-21 February 2013), during which he met Mr Lutsenko in prison.

“I should like to recall that the Assembly, in Resolution 1862 (2012), has already called on the President of Ukraine to consider all legal means available for him to release Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Lutsenko, and indicated that if these demands were not met it could consider possible sanctions,” said Mr Omtzigt.

“Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights has found that the arrest of Mr Lutsenko violated the European Convention on Human Rights on numerous counts, including a finding that there were other than legal motives for his arrest. This judgment, in my view, shows that law enforcement in Ukraine is unfair and urgently needs an overhaul,” he added.

“The democratic forces in Ukraine place their hopes in the principles upheld by the Council of Europe, and I will do my very best to ensure that we will not let them down,” concluded the rapporteur, indicating that he intended to present his final report as soon as possible.

Is Ukraine a country currently fit to be integrated in to European institutions?