Joint analytical comment by Leo Litra and Dr. Cristina Gherasimov (DGAP) for one of the leading German think-tanks DGAP on the latest developments in the EU-Ukraine relations. DGAP is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organisation, which actively takes part in political decision-making and promotes the understanding of German foreign policy and international relations.

“Despite welcoming signs from the recent EU-Ukraine Summit, the underlying problems still loom large in this special relationship. The EU is running out of tools to incentivize more difficult reforms, and Ukraine is running out of arguments why it is unable to tackle corruption, oligarchs, and consolidate rule of law. With growing geopolitical turmoil in the region, a further strengthening of this partnership should be a priority. The risk of an increasing anti- Western backlash in Ukraine should not be underestimated,” – state the authors.

PDF-version of the paper is available here.

The paper was written within the the project “Joint research with German think-tanks”, which is being implemented within the Think Tank Development Initiative for Ukraine (TTDI), carried out by the International Renaissance Foundation in partnership with the Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE) with financial support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine.