2012 Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine

On October 31, 2012 Dr. Taras Kuzio, Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins SAIS, will discuss the parliamentary elections in Ukraine. Ukraine will hold its first parliamentary elections under President Viktor Yanukovych on October 28. In the face of growing international condemnation of democratic backsliding on his watch, the election will be a test of President Yanukovych’s stated commitment to holding a democratic election and support for European integration. Doubts persisted ahead of the elections if they could be defined as democratic with opposition leaders jailed and the US Senate and European Union warning of negative consequences if the elections are not declared to be democratic. The stakes are high for President Yanukovych: if he holds a democratic election he may satisfy the international community’s concerns but at the same time will not control parliament which is key to winning a second term in 2015. Meanwhile the Ukrainian economy remains in a precarious position, with no agreement with the IMF or resolution of its gas relations with Russia. 

Taras Kuzio is Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR), School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. In 2010-2012 he wrote the book Contemporary History of Ukraine as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University, and as a Senior Visiting Fellow at CTR, Johns Hopkins-SAIS. Previously he was a Visiting Professor at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham. He is the author and editor of 14 books, including Open Ukraine. Changing Course towards a European Future, Democratic Revolution in Ukraine (2011), From Kuchmagate to Orange Revolution (2009), Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Nationalism (2007) and Ukraine-Crimea-Russia: Triangle of Conflict (2007).

Presentation by: 

Dr. Taras Kuzio
Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations,
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University

Discussant: 

Edward Chow
Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Moderated by:

Dr. Andrew Kuchins
Director and Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies