Ukraine Between Two Paths of Integration

In 2012, eight years after the Orange Revolution and less than a month before new parliamentary elections, Ukraine still found itself at the crossroads of major geopolitical integration processes. The uncertainty of the situation magnified the crisis in relations between Ukraine and the EU caused by domestic political processes in Ukraine. It casted doubts on the prospects of Ukraine’s European integration in general, and, in particular on the signing and coming into force of the Association Agreement with the EU, which envisaged creation of an important integration vehicle — the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. On the other hand, Russia had stepped up pressure on Ukraine to re-engage in projects aimed at the reintegration of former Soviet space: the Customs Union, the Single Economic Space, and, in the future, the Eurasian Union. Ukraine remained a prisoner of this stark choice, a choice the current government had only made rhetorically. Moreover, relations in the Ukraine-EU-Russian Federation triangle were being further complicated by the shifting and contradictory processes taking place on the European continent, which underlined the urgency of finding the answers to new challenges and threats.