European Union Expansion

In February of last year the EU set a three-month deadline for the Ukraine to strengthen its government democratically, to allow for the signing of an association agreement with the EU in November. This was to be the start of closer ties and relations between the Ukraine and the EU. The Ukrainian government failed to make the improvements to its electoral system and did not release the prominent opposition politicians Yuriy Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko from prison, the Ukrainian government then put off the signing of the association agreement in November, which led to mass protests in Western Ukraine.

Courtesy of thischildrenhere.org

Russia then saw its chance to regain political influence over the Ukraine, and has announced its intention to buy 15 billion dollars worth of Ukrainian bonds and to sharply cut the price of natural gas to the Ukraine. This week the Ukrainian government has put in place two pieces of anti-democratic legislation, which outlaws the dying protests in Western Ukraine. In desperation the EU has offered 88 million euro in budget support funds this month, and at least the Ukraine failed to join the Russian Customs Union.

This turn of events was probably good news for people living in the EU, because it allows the organization to focus on economic problems at home, and to improve the lives of people already in the EU, instead of trying to take on board other European countries who are clearly not ready at this time to join the Union. EU officials will most likely take a fresh look at the Ukraine in 2015, after the general elections, and after the EU has thoroughly handled domestic economic problems such as Greece and Spain.