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Ukraine

What Failure In Ukraine Reveals About European Weakness

Europe represents the freedom from political dictatorship. But at what cost?

Pro-EU protests continue in Kiev
Pro-EU protests continue in Kiev
Claire Gatinois

PARIS — Once again, Europe has disappointed. In the southern countries, the European Union is stirring up the anger and the disgust of its population. In the East, people are also protesting. With one massive difference though: The Ukrainians, who have been taking to the streets of Kiev since Sunday and in other cities, are marching to express their love — not their hate — of Europe. Such an event is rare.

Yet, these protests are also signs of a stinging defeat for Brussels. Thousands of excuses, most of which are valid, can explain the flop in the negotiations over the "Eastern Partnership," supposed to bring Ukraine and the European Union closer together. Some see it as an abhorrent economic blackmail on the part of Russia, the result of Vladimir Putin's crafty forces of persuasion.

One could also mention the calculations of the Ukrainian authorities: The country is in a very difficult economic situation and President Viktor Yanukovych, paralyzed by fear of not being reelected in 2015, desperately needs money. The financial benefits offered by Europe were dismissed as "pathetic" by Ukranian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Finally, the government fears a comeback from Yulia Tymoshenko — a potential rival of the current administration — and wants to find a way to definitively disarm her.

Still, what the failure in the negotiations also shows is the patent impotence of Europe when it comes to bringing countries together. Jose Manuel Barroso, whose mandate as head of the European Commission comes to an end in 2014, will leave a very poor legacy behind him. During his 10-year tenure, Europe has failed on two fronts: with the crisis-ridden southern countries, and now on its eastern front.

Pro-European Ukrainians saw in this potential agreement with Brussels a way out of Russia's grip on the country, as well as a fast track toward better justice and toward the liberation of their braided muse, Tymoshenko.

Economic tyranny

Their opponents, the pro-Russian population, only had to say this: Along with Europe come economic efforts, austerity and other constraints, and on top of it a dishevelled liberalism for a more than hypothetical reward. Such criticisms of a future in the arms of Europe are hard to counter. At least in the short term, any rapprochement would imply its share of "structural reforms," efforts to reduce the debt as well as budgetary rigor. Angela Merkel made it very clear, and she was right in doing so.

In the end though, her message only strengthened the image of a "Europe of austerity" eclipsing that of the Europe of democracy. Ukrainian leaders and Putin have no doubt used this excuse, and Europe certainly showed some ingenuity. Seen from Kiev, the failure of the negotiations has more to do with diplomacy than with the economy.

But it's a fact: In Lisbon, Madrid or Athens, the image people have of Europe is that of an organization that replaced political dictatorship with economical dictatorship. Thousands of angry Ukrainians are reminding us that Europe is more than that.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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