The Toronto Star 26 May 2014 By Chrystia Freeland The clear outcome of Sunday's presidential election was a validation of Ukraine's so-called "dignity revolution," but many challenges remain for the country's new president. Sunday's election was the last day of the maidan, the remarkable, self-organized, unanticipated popular uprising that overthrew Viktor Yanukovych's kleptocracy in Ukraine. To Ukrainians, the meaning and purpose of the maidan

Svensk Tidskrift 23 May 2014 By Margareta Cederfelt På söndag är det val också i Ukraina, där presidenten ska väljas. Tyvärr riskerar dagen att präglas av konflikten mellan demokrati och tvång, skriver Margareta Cederfelt. Det är ett oroligt Ukraina som går till val 25 maj under besvärliga omständigheter. Stridigheterna i Ukraina började som bekant när röster höjdes för ett medlemskap i EU. Det kan tyckas som en paradox att länderna i EU går

Українська правда 22 May 2014 By Joao Soares Менше ніж за дві доби українці прокинуться та побачать сонце, можливо, найважливішого дня у новітній історії країни. Вони отримають шанс на який заслуговують по кількох місяцях складностей – шанс, що матиме вплив на їх майбутнє. Це голосування повинно бути не лише початком змін у політиці, але і початком відновлення стабільності, і, як ми сподіваємось, початком примирення та загоєння ран. Багатьох

Kyiv Post 22 May 2014 By Joao Soares Joao Soares visits Maidan Square in Kiev 27 March 2014. Joao Soares is the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's special representative for the South Caucasus, chairman of the sub-committee on rules of procedure and member of the ad hoc committee on transparency and reform. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter has designated Mr. Soares as Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE's short-term observation mission for

Foreign Policy 15 May 2014 By Spencer Oliver The OSCE was designed to ensure peace in Europe. Now the conflict in Ukraine is confronting it with perhaps the greatest crisis in its history. Until a few months ago, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was an obscurity to most Westerners in the post-Cold-War world. Now it's the stuff of headlines and is at the center of high-stakes political deal-making. The reason is

Kyiv Post 29 November 2013 By Christopher Smith In Kyiv this June, I took part in something extraordinary. It was something that will undoubtedly help pull hundreds of vulnerable women, men and children from the jaws of modern-day slavery. With wider, regional implementation, it has the potential to save thousands more. That extraordinary event was a simple training exercise on combating human trafficking that I, as the Special Representative