Politics

Last Chance for Ukraine and Europe

Mar 30, 2015 George Soros

Ukraine has reached a critical point in its survival struggle; but so, too, has the European Union. And the line beyond which all possible scenarios worsen – for Ukraine and the EU alike – may be just days or weeks away.

LONDON – The European Union stands at a crossroads. The shape it takes five years from now will be decided in the coming 3-5 months.

Year after year, the EU has successfully muddled through its difficulties. But now it has to deal with two sources of existential crisis: Greece and Ukraine. That may prove too much.

Greece’s long-festering crisis has been mishandled by all parties from the outset. Emotions now are running so high that muddling through is the only constructive alternative.

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George Soros

Writing for PS since 1997
126 Commentaries

George Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Foundations. A pioneer of the hedge-fund industry, he is the author of many books, including The Alchemy of Finance, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means, and The Tragedy of the European Union: Disintegration or Revival? His most recent book is In Defense of Open Society (Public Affairs, 2019).

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 45 Comments on this article

Arik Reiss Apr 26, 2015

Not black and white. The West toppled a democratically elected government to install their own puppet regime. In the video below, just before the revolution in Feb-14, Victoria Nuland proudly announces how the US has spent $5bn building "democratic institutions" in Ukraine. Then the infamous post-revolution tape exposed the West hand-picking politicians to make up a West-leaning government. Outrageous. Russia reacted just as the US did in Bay of Pigs.
http://youtu.be/2y0y-JUsPTU
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Friendly Canuck Apr 16, 2015

I think it is very important for readers to understand the context of G. Soros' history with Europe, Georgia, and Western efforts in the region.

Please read this excellent Executive Intelligence Reveiw journal article from the Orange revolution in 2004: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/3148ukraine.html

Suddenly Mr. Soros' words make a lot more sense. I trust the intelligence and critical thinking of Project Syndicate's readers to do the rest.
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Юрий Железняк Apr 7, 2015

"But Ukraine is different. It is a black-and-white case. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine, in defending itself, is defending the values and principles on which the EU was built." - No it is not true, here's the answer:
To the peoples and citizens of Europe
Dear Europeans.
We, the citizens of Russia, of more than 100 ethnicities, different confessions, races, beliefs, political, ideological, sexual and other orientations, want to address you directly, bypassing the politicians and the media, because we believe that this is the time to speak to you directly, without any third parties.
With great concern we see that the situation in Ukraine has resulted in the most serious political crisis in Europe since the Cold War. For the first time in decades government leaders and military alliances do not exclude a possibility of a real war on our continent, which would mean the death of millions of people, our children, parents, our loved ones. It is absolute madness just to watch our peoples being dragged into war, while we are allowed only the passive role of the crowd of extras and bystanders.
We believe that this is the time to take the fate of Europe into our own hands. Irresponsible politicians, Cold War-like phobias, military blocks, weapons of mass destruction, military bases and structures maintain the threat of new conflicts in Europe.
We are certain that none of the peoples of Europe wants another war. There is not a slightest reason for or prerequisite to differences between politics and geopolitical issues causing new troubles for our peoples. If your media tells you otherwise, try to persuade you that someone in Russia wants something else, wishes to seize some territory or to subjugate other nations - it is a lie, serving as a tool to win your approval for sanctions and other forms of pressure on Russia.
Nobody in Russia wants any conflict with Europe, none of us are feeling hostility toward the Europeans, no European nation should feel threatened by Russia. Our wishes for Russian minorities in Europe do not go beyond the European Convention and the basic principles of human rights.
We expect principal guarantees of security - as a nation that suffered at least several acts of aggression from Europe over the last two centuries, but this wish and this expectation by no means constitute a threat against other countries. However, we feel justified in insisting that we have a right to be guaranteed peace.
We appeal to all free-minded people in Europe with a call to influence the authorities in their countries and to stop the promotion of militancy and provocative appeals, a call not to succumb to the lies of politicians and the media about the "Russian threat", to urge politicians to dialogue and search for mutually acceptable solutions in the name of a united and safe Europe.
Our time has come, the time of the peoples of Europe. We need to create fundamentally new structures and mechanisms ensuring peace and security in Europe, which would guarantee peaceful resolution of all disputes and ensure respect for the rights of individuals and peoples
Give peace a chance!
- Friendly Canuck Apr 16, 2015
  
  @Yuri - this is the most concise summary of the views of Russians I know that I've seen so far. Thank you for posting some sanity.
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Eric Dynamic Apr 6, 2015

I have one other observation to share: every time I come here to read an article, it is always some neoliberal propaganda intended as the basis for articles to be put to the general public in the Western press; yet 3/4 of all syndicate reader responses call the author out for being a propagandist (and liar) as we see here. Syndicate readers seem to have a better grip on reality than the Syndicate commentators. Perhaps the thing to do is ask Project Syndicate to invite commentators whose life-purpose is not the advancement of the neoliberal agenda, what do you think? Otherwise we might as well be reading "Foreign Affairs Quarterly".
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Eric Dynamic Apr 6, 2015

The Cold War ended in 1987. Since then, Russia has been treated about as well as we did before the Cold War. Soros reads like Kennan: free world, lose Ukraine. Why was Russia not invited into the EU? Why does NATO still exist? It's hard not to be horribly cynical, that the West's protests are hollow and disingenuous. Yes, too bad about Ukraine because then we don't own all the marbles, and how dare Russia play our game ... I propose a different picture to think about. Ukraine's anti-Russian faction collapses, the people urge a federation with Russia, Ukraine and Russia cooperate, and Ukraine recovers. The one piece missing would be the West's love for Ukraine, but that wasn't there anyway (drip-feeding) as it is not there for Greece. A one-world solution requires us to quit other-making and stop creating enemies, but this will never be allowed on our Neoliberal/Neocon-dominated planet. If you want to help Ukraine and the cause for world peace, start by dissolving NATO. Namely, if you want peace, work for peace.
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Todd Clay Apr 5, 2015

My memory of this is very different from Soros. I remember the US attempting a coup in order to add another NATO registration and when that got uncovered Russia came in to protect the Ukraine.
- Eric Dynamic Apr 6, 2015
  
  See - when we do nefarious things it's always for the right reasons and when our geopolitical 'opponents' do the same, it's never for a good reason; and establishment figures keep writing black-and-white propaganda for the 80% of the population expected to passively support the Neoliberal status-quo. I dare anyone like Soros to write analyses genuinely from another country's point of view, and how surprising it would be to see how poorly the West would come off in such an analysis. We're still playing Realpolitik just as we did in 1915, and I say that THAT is really the only story worth attending to: how to stop THAT, in our new millenium. The powers that be fear peace because peace begets justice and justice will deny Neoliberal coercion of the planet: they refuse "one world" unless it's their world to exploit.
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Vidvuds Beldavs Apr 5, 2015

In 1992-3 George Soros may have saved science in the territory of the former Soviet Union with his gift of about $150 millions. He understood the long term consequences and acted. I agree with his assessment of the situation in Ukraine. What is especially worrisome is what is happening to Ukrainian science during this crisis. If in 1993 $150 million was enough to keep open a future for science in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics and other states that gained the independence from the Soviet Union a comparable gift today could help to assure a future for science in Ukraine. Researchers in Ukraine are now eligible for Horizon 2020 and other EU funding. But, very few are active in Western research networks. What could help is funding to enable any qualified Ukrainian researcher to participate in secondments and research visits to research centers in the EU, the US and elsewhere with an open research community. A scholarship fund that could provide 1,500 EUR per month for 1,000 qualified researchers to work with colleagues in the West would cost 18 MEUR per annum. EU structure funds could be a source of funding to cover the costs incurred in host countries such as Poland, the Baltic States, Sweden, Finland, Germany and others. The host countries would gain research talent with a fresh perspective in exchange for providing support and training to help the experienced Ukrainian researchers to integrate into the Western research networks. Given successful performance over a two year period with grant applications and research submissions the qualifying scientists could receive a stipend with comparable funding to return with their broadened perspective and contacts to Ukraine to work for another year. The donation for 3 years could be perhaps 60 MEUR with comparable investments from the host EU countries. Smaller programs could be designed to work with specific partner countries such as the Baltics.
- Friendly Canuck Apr 16, 2015
  
  Boy are you misguided here Mr. Beldavs. Most of your facts are correct - no doubt. It is a strong contribution to the comments section, thank you. The reality & motives, however, are somewhat different than the outwardly appearance would suggest.
  
  Please read about George Soros' involvement in Ukraine & Georgia in the 90s and 2000s here: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/3148ukraine.html
  
  His efforts didn't save science and education; they plundered it.
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Allan Bleiken Apr 5, 2015

WAR IS MADNESS

You would think that after more than 100 million people were killed in the last century because of war and conflict, the leaders of the world would understand that war is simply unacceptable.

As evident in the fiscal problems of the EU, they have clearly demonstrated they are not infallible when it comes to making informed and intelligent decisions. And, it is because of people like George Soros that people are misled into thinking that war is the solution.

To lay the entire blame on Russia for the conflict in the Ukraine is nothing but vindictive propaganda, which leads to conflict and war. It is not a black and white issue and everyone involved in this regrettable conflict is guilty perpetrating a very dangerous situation.

It is time to back off on this issue and to negotiate an acceptable outcome such as that achieved in the Iran nuclear agreement. If it takes time, so what? Its better than killing untold thousands of innocent people. But, then there are those people that profit from war. Soros should stick to financial matters, as he is obviously an armature in political matters.
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Richard Schippers Apr 5, 2015

George Soros is more dangerous than Vladimir Putin.
To anyone lured into this war-mongering drivel: try to imagine being Russian. It shouldn't be too hard.
Harbours that remain ice-free year round have always been a strategic priority for Russia. That means the Black Sea region is crucial for the survival of Russia. The Crimea, with Sebastopol as its main navy port, has always been more Russian than Ukrainian.
Now remember the days of Reagan and Gorbatsjov: the deal in 1991 was that NATO would NOT move eastward. Boris Yeltsin actually announced that Russia could joint NATO, and would join NATO if allowed.
Fast forward to today: the whole of Eastern Europe is part of NATO, with Russia as its almost exclusive opponent. How could there be anything but distrust? How could there be anything but anger about the West's obvious intention to go even further and bring the most important Russian strategic asset under its umbrella?
Please try and see through the lies and propaganda. Please try to see that Washington is deliberately moving us towards an 'inevitable' conclusion, as they did with Irak and Afghanistan. Please try and see who George Soros really is.
- Dr. Damir Matulovic Jun 2, 2015
  
  Vivuds, it is not Russia who is financing right-wing organisations anywhere in the world. It
  s the so-called "democratic west (Eu and usa)".
  
  Where did you read such nonsense? That's a new one even for the most fervent Russia-haters. You seem to be forgetting that Russia was on the receiving end from other European countries for centuries. Russia never invaded Germany or France, or Poland, for example. The opposite is true. Read Taras Buljba, by Nikolai Gogolj, to see what were Polish invaders doing to the autochtone "Ukraininans", the Kozaks, and how did they respond in the end. And then there were Habsburgs and British aggressors. Do you even know that Kiev is where Russia was established as a country, and where Russian church was formed? And who are Ukraininas really? What "ethnicity" can you identify specific to "Ukrainians"?
  
  The west is playing its' imperialist games with yet another weak country to ensure its' hegemony over the rest of the world. No amount of Russia-bashing can hide the facts.
  
  Whatever people like you accuse Russia of, is merely parroting western aggression propaganda. It's really the usa and the Eu who are doing what people like you accues Russia of.
  
  Start with financing right wing organisations and work your way through that propaganda they feed you may see it one day.
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- Eric Dynamic Apr 6, 2015
  
  Vidvuds: "NATO in late 2013 had no defensive doctrine against Russia."
  
  Nato's only purpose for existence is to defend against Russia. Once the Warsaw Pact evaporated, so should have NATO, and that it did not says all you need to know about Western Intentions and Attitudes. I repeat: invite Russia to join the EU! Who can be expected to "behave better", a member of your club, or someone you shun and exclude? Does Russia really come off so poorly, in comparison with a country whose people see the need for "Occupy" riots complaining about world domination by the 1%?
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- Vidvuds Beldavs Apr 5, 2015
  
  Why does Russia provide financial support to extreme right-wing organizations that are anti-EU? NATO in late 2013 had no defensive doctrine against Russia. One of the reasons why Putin chose to act against Ukraine was specifically that he saw no threat from NATO that could stop his actions in Ukraine. If President Yanukovych had been permitted to sign the EU association agreement in November, 2013 he would have returned to Kiev a hero of the Ukrainian people, but in reality still effectively under the control of Russia. The Sevastopol base agreement was guaranteed until 2042. There would have been no change in Ukraine-Russia relations. But, Putin had so little regard for the aspirations of the people of Ukraine that despite the overwhelming vote of the parliament for the EU, and personal support by Yanukovych for EU membership, and poll numbers in well into the 70% Ukraine was pressured to change its position. The people of Ukraine were denied the path to Europe by their president after over a decade of building expectations for the EU. Instead, they were told that they would continue to be a corrupted appendage of Russia. The massive demonstrations that took place were totally predictable, and could have been avoided. It is almost as if the demonstrations and the chaos that followed were desired. How could political leadership be so stupid to go so much against the will of the people?
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Basil McDonnell Apr 5, 2015

What is really in question in Ukraine is very simple: whether our oligarchs or their oligarchs get to loot the country. It's like watching a couple of T-Rex's battling over scraps. All regular people can do is try to keep from getting crushed.
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Kevin Zeese Apr 5, 2015

I'd like to know more about Soros's investments in Ukraine. What does he have to gain or lose?

When Soros begins by claiming Ukraine is a black and white case with Putin as the aggressor, he gives up the game. This is the propaganda line. Look at the Ukraine government and it is evident who the aggressor is.

President Poroshenko is an oligarch and State Department cables published by Wikileaks show he has been a US informant since 2006. They describe him as Our Ukraine Insider (see https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06KIEV1706_a.html), the cables also point out his corruption. The Prime Minister Yatsenyuk was the chosen one in a telephone conversation between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt where they discussed who should lead Ukraine after the coup and Nuland said "Yats is the guy." See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957. The Ukraine Finance Minister, Natalie Jaresko, was a long time State Department official who came to Ukraine after the Orange Revolution, went into finance and reportedly funded a lot of the $5 billion that Nuland admitted the US spent in Urkraine to develop opposition to the Russian-leaning government. On the day she became Finance Minister she was also made a Ukraine citizen by the president. So, the US has three top positions in the Ukraine government, after a coup they supported by people they funded -- and Soros calls it black and white that Putin is the aggressor!

On top of all this Biden's son and a long-time Kerry friend and major political donor are on the board of the largest private energy corporation. And, the US corporation Monsanto has been given free reign to spread it GMO products throughout Urkaine agriculture. But, for Soros, US is the aggressor.

Europeans have listened to statements made by the top US general in Europe, General Breedlove, and been astonished by his exaggerated claims about Russian troop movements. These claims, inconsistent with European intelligence, are designed to escalate conflict but in fact add to the divides between Europe and the US (add NSA spying, listening in on Chancellor Merkel's phone calls etc). Breedlove is trying to propagandize European leaders as if they don't have their own intelligence capabilities. See http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-concerned-about-aggressive-nato-stance-on-ukraine-a-1022193.html.

Russia did not want the US encouraged coup, did not want a US dominated government and economy, does not want a civil war on its borders. It is just not in its interest to have chaos and US influence on its border. Russian proposals for a Ukraine federation with Eastern Ukraine, but remaining in Ukraine, is the way out of the civil war, but the US will not accept it because it has always wanted the Russian Navy out of Crimea. That is just not something Russia can accept.

If the EU were wise it would build relationships with Asia and Russia and recognize the US is drawing it into conflicts it does not need. There is no reason for NATO to be surrounding Russia with military bases and missiles, just as there is no reason for the US to be surrounding China with the Asian Pivot and economically with the Trans Pacific Partnership. EU should break from the aggressive, over-stretched US Empire of military bases and recognize that the fall of the US Empire will damage them if they do not build new alliances outside of the United States. Hopefully, the involvement of the UK, Germany and France in the new Chinese development bank is the beginning of a multi-polar work, not one dominated by US hegemony.
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Julian Sayer Apr 5, 2015

George you wouldn't be sabre rattling would you?

Do you really think the Euro and EU will survive in 2/3 years,?
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Sam Klirhed Apr 5, 2015

It is not only Ukraine but Russia is also a basket case. Its pillars of strength are a well-oiled propaganda machine (Russia Today and the wall-to-wall domestic media) and the military... all subsidised by aggressive exports of fossil fuels and weapon systems. Putin's major fear, and not from February 2014, is that Ukraine, attached to the EU, will become in time an open society with a balanced economy and less corruption and thus the contrast with its overpowering neighbour will grow and give the Russian people ideas for change.
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Wim Roffel Apr 5, 2015

Once again Soros is trying to blow up the Ukrainian crisis into World War III. Ukraine is the opposite of a black-and-white problem: a "revolution" that divides a country, the harmful effects of foreign interference in the internal affairs of a country, a government that makes use of private militias to impose its writ, powerful oligarchs that make democracy a bad joke, a government that systematically ignores all chances to end the war in the East.
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Ted Peters Apr 5, 2015

Europe is old and tired. Its day has past. It's like a subcontinent in retirement... and that includes the Russians, who seem to prefer nostalgic fantasies about a glorious past that never was to the prospect of entering the modern world. The US would be wise to refocus its energies on Asia and the other emerging countries.
- Eric Dynamic Apr 6, 2015
  
  One, we've heard that before: Old Europe vs. New Europe. Two, the "dynamic Asian tigers" themselves ran out of gas, if you recall. Three, if Europe is "tired" then so is the US, which is only a "young" country if one is immortal. If we want to keep being silly with purposeless rhetoric then two "blocs" have yet to emerge, Africa and Latin America. Otherwise, perhaps we should quit talking about who is "tired", because the fact is that none of the countries under discussion are going away; so the question is, how to quit being tired? If one reads history, the EU is a really cool institution compared to what preceded it; and by example we can look forward to a WU, World Union, of countries one hopes will no longer be "tired", what is "tired", anyway? Laissez-Faire Capitalism has been "tired" since 1890 but it shows no signs of giving up anything.
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- Vidvuds Beldavs Apr 5, 2015
  
  The EU has demonstrated the capability of a continent of people that had warred for centuries to live in peace and to attain significant achievements in science, the arts and culture. The EU is the hope of the future for the continent of Africa which has created the African Union taking the model of the EU. The EU has provided significant support for the AU. The AU is critically importance to the emergence of a successful African continent, which is forecast to have more than 2 billion people by 2050. Without a strong EU an integrated Africa, at peace and providing a high quality of life to its peoples is highly improbable. In the field of space development ESA has provided global leadership to sustain vital collaboration among all spacefaring nations, a role that no other global power can provide.
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Arik Reiss Apr 2, 2015

Black and white?

Here is a speech by Victoria Nuland given 2 months before the revolution:

http://youtu.be/2y0y-JUsPTU

Ms Nuland is boasting of the $5bn spent by the US on supporting "democratic institutions" in Ukraine and the intensity of her recent diplomatic engagement.
In essence, the US+EU toppled a democratically elected government, to then go on and install a hand picked puppet regime (the infamous fxxk the EU tape post-revolution).
Hard to mistake Putin for a nice guy, but to have to cut the man some slack here. How would the US react if tables were reversed? Bay of Pigs... non-insignia soldiers invading neighbour... this is where the playbook was written.
- Pat McClung Apr 5, 2015
  
  I have read this article. George Soros states "But Ukraine is different. It is a black-and-white case. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine, in defending itself, is defending the values and principles on which the EU was built. "
  This statement, as far as I can tell, is completely counter-factual.
  
  Bertrand Russell, in 1959, when asked for advice to future generations, responded:
  
  "The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this: When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only, "What are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out?" Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only and solely at what are the facts. That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say."
  
  Henry Kissinger, no friend of Russia, stated, in a Washington Post Article, March 7, 2014:
  
  "The Ukrainians are the decisive element. They live in a country with a complex history and a polyglot composition. The Western part was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939 , when Stalin and Hitler divided up the spoils. Crimea, 60 percent of whose population is Russian, became part of Ukraine only in 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian by birth, awarded it as part of the 300th-year celebration of a Russian agreement with the Cossacks. The west is largely Catholic; the east largely Russian Orthodox. The west speaks Ukrainian; the east speaks mostly Russian. Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other — as has been the pattern — would lead eventually to civil war or break up. To treat Ukraine as part of an East-West confrontation would scuttle for decades any prospect to bring Russia and the West — especially Russia and Europe — into a cooperative international system."
  
  The "facts" about Ukraine, are there, for anyone who wishes to access them. understand them. Here is, in my opinion, a link to recent relevant summary:
  http://theparagraph.com/2015/04/ukraine-crisis-facts-bring-discord-to-u-s-mighty-wurlitzer/
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Margaret Bowker Apr 2, 2015

George Soros is right, the EU is standing at a crossroads; and too much time is being taken up with Greece. I don't understand why the issue is being made so complicated. The EU is changing, don't fight it so much. This drip-drip politics is exhausting and risky. Fund Greece until the deal is reached in the latter part of April and move on to other issues as he says, so that concentrating on the EU trade, growth and investment impetus can come to the fore again.
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Allan Bleiken Apr 1, 2015

Focusing on one picture frame in a motion picture does not tell the whole story. This is what in effect this article has done. The Ukrainian problem, like that of Greece started many years ago. And, it was as this article states the result of badly managed EU problems, which let these issues exacerbate to their present situations.

There is no quick fix and everyone will have to pay a price. To blame Russia as the sole perpertator of this crisis, is bias in the extreme and blatantly untruthful. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian economy and military also collapsed and the survival of the country was at risk. While in this weakened position, NATO and the EU moved agressively to absorb the former Soviet Union states and were eminately successful. The Ukraine was the last jewel in the crown. And so the EU and NATO, led by the U.S., directly interfered within the internal affairs of the Ukraine and helped overthrow the government.

Today Russia is being projected as a country which is a threat to the nations on its border, including those who now belong to NATO. So let's put this into perspective. NATO accounts for more tha 60% of the world's military expenditures, while Russia accounts for less than 3%. To suggest that Russia is a threat to the West is untruthful and repesetnts misleading propaganda of the worst order.

But let's face it. The world's economy is at risk and the military/industrial complex represents a huge component of the economy. The best way to stimulate the military/industrial complex is to fabricate a new threat or conflict.

So if the truth be told, this is not about Russia. It is about how to sustain economic viability and keep people working and the economy solvent. The fact that you have to kill untold thousands of people to achieve this goal, seems to be a price the west is willing to pay, as long as it is not their own people.

The question must be asked, how far has society really come since the dark ages?
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Peter Berner Apr 1, 2015

Ukraine is a black and white case only for a propagandist. Fact is, Ukraine invaded Crimea with America's backing. Russia stepped in to save Crimea and to prevent further bloodshed. Russia, is the hero in this and America is still beating the war drumbs. Politicians keep repeating the same lies calling Russia the aggressor, they are not and people are no longer as stupid as you think they are.
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John Jones Apr 1, 2015

The problem facing the Ukraine and the EU is the same as the problems racking Syria and its neighbours. namely the anarchy which continues to bedevil international relations. We still like to pretend we have a United Nations Organisation when in fact we only we have an aid organisation to offer some relief t0 the victims of the disunity which breeds armed conflict and all its human suffering and eco blight. As long as the 'experts' continue to treat each problem as a seperate entity, the situation can only get worse and the victims more numerous. We simply have to face up to the root problem and deal with it. See http://www.garrettjones.talktalk.net
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Непогода Непогода Apr 1, 2015

Putin trolls quickly responded. Covered article avalanche of lies.
Soros clever! Everything is right, all right understand !!!
- Velko Simeonov Apr 1, 2015
  
  No actually we don't understand. Maybe you should try in english next time, not "broken" english. By the way this is a rather high minded forum and such flat arguments and language really do not belong here. If you have an argument share don't offend folks just because they do not share your opinion.
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Dmitry Meshkov Mar 31, 2015

To all of you "knowledgeables" - your limited ability to see the whole picture , makes me lugh. What are you to type here silly remarks about Soros and Ukraine. Unlike you Soros visits Ukraine at least twice a year and know the situation. All comments in support of putler here are left by paid russian trolls. If you suspect one - just ban it and report. Europe must accept one thing - to finish wars on planet we need finish russia first. You say - imposible? I say - no. Moscow has been burned so many times before - this time will be no different. The World had enough gfief of communists and kgb agents. It is not difficult to fiish with russia now - Ukraine can do it even without EU - just do not interrupt us.
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Margarete Rolle Mar 31, 2015

But Ukraine is different. It is a black-and-white case. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine, in defending itself, is defending the values and principles on which the EU was built.

I had thought better of this man, but he's joined the masses in his categoric demonisation of Putin, and that destroys any hopes of
an end to the conflict and a reconcilliation of the people who live in Ukraine. Is anything Black & White in the Fog of War?
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jagjeet sinha Mar 31, 2015

Essentially, GS suggestions will embroil America even deeper in European quagmire from which they can never extricate themselves. Britain suffered the same fate and ended its greatness - but then America was there to salvage The Atlantic. Once America is neck deep in the same quagmire, the salvation will be from The Pacific - wondering if Australia and Canada will be able to carry the baton like America and Britain have done, with India as the Crown Jewel. The difference is that the Crown Jewel in The Pacific Age is China not India. And China has never known subservience in perpetuity - it will be a different story, as Lee Kuan Yew often foretold. The choice of greater entanglement in Europe's quagmire ultimately will be made either by democratic choice or by events that cannot be predicted.
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hari naidu Mar 31, 2015

Look! Ukraine is more or less a failed state. That was the original Russian tactical outlook on Kiev; Moscow planned and made it into a failed state...while anticipating a color revolution. EU/US will have to pour tons of tax-money to re-make Ukraine into a sustainable political/economic state system. May be next generation of Ukraine's will succeed!
- Dima Lauri Mar 31, 2015
  
  It is a psychological trap that Russia is related to Ukraine misfortune. Ukraine officials is mad of using such fake cliche. Every nation is the owner of it's fate. Ukraine is independent country for 25 years.
  What I have learned from Ukraine crisis is that all Russian obstacles are hidden inside Russian society. But I would like to add that politic and social problems is not an excuse to play dirty with my country.
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Ivan Hangoverov Mar 31, 2015

This is nothing more than a fantasy dressed up as a strategy because it attributes little to no agency on the part of the rebel fighters or, for that matter, the area’s noncombatants. The simple, undeniable fact is that even if Russia was to be persuaded—via sanctions or via a significant uptick in military casualties—to wash its hands of the region, there is almost no chance that the indigenous military forces in the region would simply melt away. What is continuing to unfold in the Donbass—despite repeated protestations from Kiev’s representatives in Washington—is a civil war between two groups with diametrically opposed visions for the future of their country. It is a civil war that also—given that each side has enormously powerful supporters—poses a genuinely grave risk to global security.
If the ceasefire, against all odds, congeals and holds, the likely scenario that will play out for the Donbass region is that which unfolded in South Ossetia in the years following the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. And indeed that is an eventuality the People’s Republic of Donetsk is preparing for, with meetings scheduled with representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh for late spring.
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Velko Simeonov Mar 31, 2015

First things first there is NEVER a black and white situation in international affairs as the author suggests. Second, he implies that there are some reforms underway that need to be supported, what reforms? It is one think to vote laws and rules in the parliament, this is the easy part, and another thing to actually implement those reforms, given the corrupt judiciary and government. This I say from own experience, living in Bulgaria. We implement reforms every year or so and the result is negligent to say the least, and we are in much better condition to actually implement such measures as compared to the defunct Ukrainian state.
The funniest part is the suggestion that the country has been somehow wrestled from the oligarch’s, and if no help is provided this will be reversed. The president is an oligarch, he appointed other oligarch’s to top positions, and it is oligarch’s that end up funding both the legitimate army as well as the private armies that fight along its side. So the country has not been freed from the plutocracy, rather one set of oligarch’s is replaced by another set of similar individuals.
The most nonsense thesis that the author is peddling however, is the notion that if EU does not back Ukraine to the end this will somehow lead to dissolution of the union. Why, what are the arguments in the support of this absurd thesis?
Last but not least comparing the crisis in Greece and Ukraine, and the EU’s response to those is like comparing apples and cow dong!
- Alisdair Hamilton-Wilkes Mar 31, 2015
  
  Velko Simeonov, the comparison is clear. In each case here and generally everywhere the EU response is to do the least that is absolutely necessary.
  
  The result is that clear, even if long term, solutions fail to emerge for most EU related issues that tend to become festering sores.
  
  The country may not have wrestled from oligarchs, that will take at least a decade and it will only work with an independent judiciary, which will also take some years. The alternative, to just cut Ukraine loose is not just a rejection of the Ukraine, it is a rejection of the EU mission. I thought this came across quite clearly in the article.
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j. von Hettlingen Mar 30, 2015

George Soros believes the "coming 3-5 months" will be decisive for the European Union, as they tell what "shape it takes five years from now". It's true that the EU had been able to weather the storm in the past. But the crises in Greece and Ukraine have sapped much of the Union's energy and it is struggling to save the Eurozone without a "Grexit".
Although "Greece’s long-festering crisis has been mishandled by all parties from the outset", it is of economic nature and can be dealt with by forging structural reforms. While the European Central Bank has little problem in pursuing monetary policies, EU member states still have a hard time to agree on fiscal policies, as they see them as domestic issues.
Yet the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is - politically - a much more complicated issue. There's no doubt that "Putin’s Russia is the aggressor". Ukraine finds itself in a situation, in which a militarily weaker country has to defend itself against a a big bully. By demanding the right to determine its own future, Ukraine is aspiring and not "defending the values and principles on which the EU was built". One can only defend something, when one already has it!
Soros has done European leaders an injustice, by claiming they treat Ukraine "like another Greece". How? The nature of the two crises is different! Of course it would be "the wrong approach" and produce "the wrong results". Just because "Europe is so preoccupied with Greece", doesn't imply that "it hardly pays any attention" to what Putin is doing in Ukraine. However nefarious Putin's hybrid warfare is, Soros has no advice as to what EU leaders do! Obvious he believes military might would intimidate Putin! What would Putin do, if the West had thrown down the gauntlet? He would definitely respond accordingly, to gratify his hubris!
It is not enough to say: "There is something fundamentally wrong with EU policy". Soros has to elaborate it! How can he said that Putin has "outmaneuvered Ukraine’s allies, which used to lead the free world?" Ukraine had signed an association agreement with the EU, which is of political and economic nature. But it is hardly a military alliance for the purpose of intervention. Why can't Mr. Soros spare some of his $20 billion to help Ukraine out?
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Roman Podolyan Mar 30, 2015

Ukraine is even worse case than Greece, because it is torn apart with civil war (which those who obtained Soros' grants only helped to fuel) and already full of poor people. There are huge doubts already if people here manage to pay their new bills after tariff and price hike. Yes, Ukraine can be bailed out, but what is similar to Greece is that the bailout is not going to be repaid, as Ukraine, heavily dependent on Russian gas, oil and markets, is not going to recover, and people of rebellious regions are not going to "support Ukraine", whatever propaganda you might heard.

While Soros lies about "black and white" case, millions of Ukrainians support Russia (like those in Crimea, read article "The Crimean conundrum" at openDemocracy), or work for Russia (those worked in Russia before and those who fled war or mobilization).

George Soros is trying to mislead international community once more. Ask him how prosperous Georgia is doing after been managed several years by Soros' crony Saakashvili, and if Georgia is not that prosperous and not that supportive of Saakshvili now, ask how Ukraine can prosper with Saakashvily and his friends now ruling Ukraine.

But whatever. If you, Europeans, want bail us out knowing that many of us not going even to vote for anything pro-European — how can we resist? Just remember that you are "donors", not creditors.
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Bernhard Kopp Mar 30, 2015

With all due respect, but on Ukraine Mr. Soros is dead wrong. No money in the world can buy an Ukrainian state as a liberal democracy with the rule of law. There is no state experience, no state history, no coherent identity, no elite and no middle class. He should look to Venezuela, Colombia, among others, and ask himself why these countries did not get better organized in almost 200 years. Neither Ukraine nor Russia will be considerably faster. States develop from within and at their own pace. Neither missionary zeal, nor money can change that.
- Hector Almendrades Apr 5, 2015
  
  Bernhard, Venezuela and Colombia find themselves in that situation precisely due to US subtle and not too subtle interference and meddling into their domestic affairs. All the while US is now "disengaging" its 50-year plus embargo against Cuba. In other words, if you permit, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia are represented by governments elected to counterweight the excesses of US intervention for decades.
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- roman roman Mar 30, 2015
  
  Hey people, please, look at Ukraine in XXth century, You will see bolsheviks invasion (apropo, right like now), then famine that took 2 to 3 million of us, ukrainians, then nazi-time and after that again kommunists withtheir famine and unjustice, but, indeed, milder. so now, when we are defending european valies, don't we deserve some help from Europe?
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- Alisdair Hamilton-Wilkes Mar 30, 2015
  
  With all due respect countries do build successful democracies given time and support of their allies. Much of Central Europe (Poland, the Czech and Slovakia and Hungary) have all built successful democracies with minimal living memory or historic experience of it.
  
  Romania and Bulgaria are lagging but it is clear with concerted pressure for more transparency and judicial independence over another decade they should also be successful.
  
  Mr. Soros’ key point is that the Ukraine needs and deserves the same EU driven pressure and support. You are right that it will not happen overnight (probably 2 decades) but there is a clear will amongst the people of Ukraine to start on the road to developing a western style democratic state and we should support them.
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