INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION AND ANALYTICAL EDITION THE KIEV TIMES www.thekievtimes.ua NOVEMBER 2013
UKRAINE – EUROPE: ACCESSION OR RETURN?
Millions of Ukrainians are waiting for the President to make a monumental decision. It will be a historical choice, the same one for Donetsk and Lviv, Chernigov and Kherson, Uzhgorod and Zaporozhe. This choice will have to be made by politicians and officials, miners
and foresters, scientists and students, sportsmen and artists. Moreover, it must not be vigorously opposed, or made just for the sake of appearance, and definitely not in the familiar mode «It’s not my funeral». The country is already changing because we understand it is high
time to change. But how? How do we find compromise and not get lost looking for a phantom El dorado? First of all, stereotypes must be broken. All of them. Or the maximum possible amount. How many of you have read the actual text of the Association
Agreement with the EU? Is it worth believing everything politicians of different ranks claim? What is the Russian embrace like: fraternal or sinister? «They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself»; minds crave stability, parents think
that happiness awaits their children. The country lives with the expectation of a promising future. Ukrainian history is bound tightly with the history of Europe. We have always been Europe. The current situation is more urgent, in choosing the future
of our economy, than any other that has come before. This issue of The Kiev Times will attempt to sort out where we are moving as a country. We believe that the right way will be chosen. So where are we heading? We are moving to the future.