... can go either way, because, as an editor of the Ukrainian weekly Zerkolo Nedeli put it to the Economist back in February, the country’s ‘favourite sport has long been promising everything and doing nothing’. It has been known that Mr Yanukovych is no fan of the democratic control an association with the EU would mean, but that he likes the political and economic independence that membership of the Russian-led Customs Union would put at an even bigger risk. It has seemed likely – ...
... that the country ‘Europeanises’ its legal and political frameworks first, that is, makes the adjustments that the Union deems necessary to make them comply with its core values.
But Ukraine seems to be a rather troublesome partner for the European Union. As an editor of the paper Zerkolo Nedeli told the Economist, '[the country’s] favourite sport has long been promising everything and doing nothing'.
True, it seems that what European officials labelled as Mr Yanukovych's 'unequivocal commitment' after last Monday's meeting is indeed an equivocal thing. At the talks, the President normally seems ready to implement the EU’s suggestions and to alleviate their concerns, even ...