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Ukraine’s leaders struggle to deal with mammoth challenges

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Faced with a pro-Russian uprising in the east, economic collapse and the demands of the protest movement that bought them to power, Ukraine's beleaguered leaders are struggling to stay afloat.

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, following the ouster of Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February, current premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk lamented that whoever agreed to take over the country would be committing "political suicide".

But even that stark warning seems to have understated the scale of the problems ahead as the authorities in Kiev have lurched from one crisis to the next in a desperate scramble to keep the country from disintegration and a May 25 presidential poll on track.

"The most pressing and difficult challenge facing the new authorities in Ukraine is the struggle to maintain the territorial integrity of the country," says Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.

"Connected with this task is another critical challenge: the risk of Russian aggression," Fesenko said.

Since coming to power less than two months ago, the current leadership's record on this front makes for painful reading.

Last month they watched on helplessly as the Kremlin seized and then annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

This week, a much-hyped military operation to put down a wave of pro-Russian unrest sweeping the industrial east backfired spectacularly when separatist militants overran government troops and captured their armoured vehicles.

Kiev and its Western allies blame Moscow for the instability and accuse Russia of doing all it can to make Ukraine ungovernable.

"The problem is that for the authorities in Kiev there isn't a good or a bad choice, there is only a choice of one bad strategy or another bad strategy," said Andreas Umland, a political analyst at Ukraine's Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Either the authorities can take a hard line and risk sparking an open conflict or try to de-escalate the situation and run the danger of looking weak, he said.

Given the turmoil wracking the east of the country, next month's election is looking increasingly unlikely.

"Every day it is more obvious that carrying out the presidential election as planned is impossible," said Umland.

- From revolution to reality -

Swept to power on the back of a euphoric popular revolution several months ago, the current leadership has also had to contend with the dire economic situation in the country with officials warning that Ukraine needs some $35 billion (25 billion euros) to avoid bankruptcy and Russia ramping up gas prices.

While Russia accuses them of being dominated by neo-fascist extremists, they are in fact headed by pro-European liberals and contain both nationalists and technocrats.

All these problems combined mean that living up to the sky-high but disparate hopes of the people involved in the anti-Yanukovych protests -- including far-right nationalists, left-wing progressists, and anarchists -- has proved near impossible.

"There are an awful lot of demands from the side of the protesters that the government simply isn't able to satisfy," Umland said.

Another problem is that while some in the government such as Yatsenyuk, a bespectacled former foreign minister, are experienced politicians, others in the patchwork administration are newcomers with little experience.

But however mammoth the challenges facing the new leaders, there is nowhere else to turn.

"Support for the central authorities has fallen dramatically of late, but what alternative is there?" asked Vadim Karasev, director of Kiev's Global Strategies Institute.

With far-right nationalist groups to one side and Yanukovych's tainted Regions Party to the other, Ukrainians for the moment are stuck with the current crop of leaders.

"People have to support this government because there isn't any other option," Karasev said

"They may be unhappy with it, but at least it is theirs."

Faced with a pro-Russian uprising in the east, economic collapse and the demands of the protest movement that bought them to power, Ukraine’s beleaguered leaders are struggling to stay afloat.

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, following the ouster of Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February, current premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk lamented that whoever agreed to take over the country would be committing “political suicide”.

But even that stark warning seems to have understated the scale of the problems ahead as the authorities in Kiev have lurched from one crisis to the next in a desperate scramble to keep the country from disintegration and a May 25 presidential poll on track.

“The most pressing and difficult challenge facing the new authorities in Ukraine is the struggle to maintain the territorial integrity of the country,” says Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.

“Connected with this task is another critical challenge: the risk of Russian aggression,” Fesenko said.

Since coming to power less than two months ago, the current leadership’s record on this front makes for painful reading.

Last month they watched on helplessly as the Kremlin seized and then annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

This week, a much-hyped military operation to put down a wave of pro-Russian unrest sweeping the industrial east backfired spectacularly when separatist militants overran government troops and captured their armoured vehicles.

Kiev and its Western allies blame Moscow for the instability and accuse Russia of doing all it can to make Ukraine ungovernable.

“The problem is that for the authorities in Kiev there isn’t a good or a bad choice, there is only a choice of one bad strategy or another bad strategy,” said Andreas Umland, a political analyst at Ukraine’s Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Either the authorities can take a hard line and risk sparking an open conflict or try to de-escalate the situation and run the danger of looking weak, he said.

Given the turmoil wracking the east of the country, next month’s election is looking increasingly unlikely.

“Every day it is more obvious that carrying out the presidential election as planned is impossible,” said Umland.

– From revolution to reality –

Swept to power on the back of a euphoric popular revolution several months ago, the current leadership has also had to contend with the dire economic situation in the country with officials warning that Ukraine needs some $35 billion (25 billion euros) to avoid bankruptcy and Russia ramping up gas prices.

While Russia accuses them of being dominated by neo-fascist extremists, they are in fact headed by pro-European liberals and contain both nationalists and technocrats.

All these problems combined mean that living up to the sky-high but disparate hopes of the people involved in the anti-Yanukovych protests — including far-right nationalists, left-wing progressists, and anarchists — has proved near impossible.

“There are an awful lot of demands from the side of the protesters that the government simply isn’t able to satisfy,” Umland said.

Another problem is that while some in the government such as Yatsenyuk, a bespectacled former foreign minister, are experienced politicians, others in the patchwork administration are newcomers with little experience.

But however mammoth the challenges facing the new leaders, there is nowhere else to turn.

“Support for the central authorities has fallen dramatically of late, but what alternative is there?” asked Vadim Karasev, director of Kiev’s Global Strategies Institute.

With far-right nationalist groups to one side and Yanukovych’s tainted Regions Party to the other, Ukrainians for the moment are stuck with the current crop of leaders.

“People have to support this government because there isn’t any other option,” Karasev said

“They may be unhappy with it, but at least it is theirs.”

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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