RUSSIAS LIBERALS, PUTIN WATCHING REVOLUTION CLOSELY In case you missed it, Kiev has been exploding over the last few days. Hundreds of thousands of people came out into the streets over the weekend—both in Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine—to protest President Viktor Yanukovichs last-minute decision to scuttle the signing of a vaguely worded agreement that would have begun to put Ukraine into the European orbit—and out of Russias. The police cant clear the streets. The protesters have taken over city hall, as well as some other buildings, and forced a high-level resignation over police brutality. Theyve also caused a split in Yanukovichs Regions party and forced him to retreat back to the Europeans negotiating table. (Given that the protesters are now calling for his ouster, well, its a small price to pay.) There are some legitimate questions about whether the move toward Europe is a wise one for Ukraine. They encompass everything from the countrys own economic health, to the wisdom of alienating Russia, a neighbor that is both so vindictive and so close, and to whether the Ukrainians overestimate what theyll get out of this pact. But tune in to the reaction in Moscow and you wont hear much about that. What youll hear is Moscow talking mostly about...itself. Two years ago this week, falsified parliamentary elections brought thousands out into Moscows streets. But, after a euphoric winter and spring, the protests collapsed, having forced no real concessions from the Kremlin. Putin remained in power, the system remained in place, and both went after the opposition with renewed viciousness and vigor. Moscows revolution is dead. kyivpost/content/ukraine-abroad/new-republic-russias-liberals-are-watching-ukraines-revolution-very-closelyand-so-is-putin-332876.html
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:17:31 +0000
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