"Enlargement works, why stop now?"
Deniz Devrim
Research Fellow – Europe
Mary Jane O’Leary
Research Assistant – Europe
Barcelona, 15 February 2010
The EU, once a synonym for electoral success in Ukraine, has been
dropped unceremoniously from this year’s presidential election debates.
The lingering pessimism in Ukraine towards the EU has domestic as well
as EU-related explanations, but there is no doubt that the EU’s
procrastination in offering membership perspectives has discoloured
reform processes in its eastern neighbourhood. Promises by the EU
appear noncommittal, and tangible signs of EU participation in the
region are few and far between. This not only thwarts the incentives to
reform and thus, affects public opinion in individual countries, but
also reflects a disconcerting approach to the very definition of the
concept that is Europe.
(...)
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