State Crisis in Ukraine
From Citizens Protest for Europe to Revolution
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
After two months, the popular protests against the decision to break off negotiations between the Ukrainian government and the European Union have ended in revolutionary unrest and led to a state crisis. The image of Europe became the surface for projecting outrage over corrupt elites in the form of president’s “family”, which has exploited the country and led it to the brink of collapse. The opposition established an exterritorial political space on Kiev’s Independence Square and defended itself against repression and violence. The opposition and the protest movement called for the president’s resignation, as well as free and fair elections. A consolidation of authoritarian presidential rule is impossible. The alternative is: dictatorship or a democratic new start.
(Osteuropa 1/2014, pp. 25–42)