EU as regional power: interests and conflict-case of Ukraine Ukraine was divided and ruled by

It started in 1920 when Ukraine tried to break away from the Soviet Union, but it was unsuccessful because Stalin wouldn’t let them. Stalin then at the end of the 1920s, wanted to shut down Ukraine’s autonomy. He does so by having individuals arrested, sent to prison, and even executed (Sebag, 2008). Ukraine used to be the bread basket of Russia. That was until Stalin and his crew took over and held over ¾ of Ukraine hostage. While he was having people imprisoned and executed, he also ordered the collectivization of agriculture. Most of Ukraine were peasants and farmers. The majority of these people owned a good amount of land, and some even owned livestock. There were people who were against collectivization. These people were called Kulaks, which are rich peasants. Thousands of people were thrown out of their homes and even deported. (Bohdan, 2013)

For much of its history, Ukraine had been under the control of larger powers. Before and during WWI, parts of modern Ukraine were under the control of the Russian Empire and other parts were under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There were multiple attempts at independence during the

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

Ukraine has been an independent state since 1991 and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the two nations continued to hold close ties. In the past two decades, there have been several significant events affecting the balance of power between the two nations. One of the events was in December 1994 when Ukraine agreed to give up its substantial nuclear arsenal at Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurance. The condition of this agreement being Russia and other signing countries would issue an assurance against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. Just a few year later Russia also signed the Charter for European Security, the action “reaffirmed the inherent right

As the EU includes 27 states therefore they would inevitably face difficulties due to the diverse range of national interests. On the other hand increasing numbers of policies are decided on a supranational level and therefore speed the process, for example decisions relating to trade or agriculture. However vital policies such as Defence remain intergovernmental, as do decisions such as the accession of new states. The effect of recent economic crisis has made an impact on the creation of EU superstate. The global downturn, which originated in 2007 created the ‘Eurozone’ crisis. As a result EU bailouts have been organized for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The fear of the crisis extending further across Europe has caused a loss of confidence in the EU, and in particular the euro. There has even been speculation that Greece may have to exit the ‘Eurozone’. Alternatively it has also caused some to call for further integration, arguing the crisis has shown the need for tighter budget rules throughout the EU.

Tensions in Western Europe have pushed eastern European countries to Russia, and the eu has dissolved.

With the inclusion of theses countries in the EU the average wage went up and the living conditions have improved. They now are able to afford all the commodities that the rest of Europe has been enjoying for years.

The conflict between the Ukraine and Russia is the Ukraine's most long-standing and deadly crisis; since its post-Soviet independence began as a protest against the government dropping plans to forge closer trade ties with the European Union. The conflict between Russia and the Ukraine stems from more than twenty years of weak governance, the government’s inability to promote a coherent executive branch policy, an economy dominated by oligarchs and rife with corruption, heavy reliance on Russia, and distinct differences between Ukraine's population from both Eastern and Western regions in terms of linguistics, religion and ethnicity (Lucas 2009).

The current international system is characterized by growth in globalization hence regional integration is becoming a common phenomenon in most parts of the world. As a result of states becoming more interconnected, most of them have opted for regional integration so as to enhance trade between states thus boosting economies of the states as well as the regions as a whole. Besides free trade, regional integration has seen to it the elimination of trade barriers, free movement of goods and people across borders, regional co-operation in issues to do with peace and security within the regions among various other benefits of regional integration. One of the regions that has grown as a result of regional integration is the European Union (EU), which is an economic and political partnership composed of 28 European countries. This paper will focus on the EU and give a theoretical analysis of the Brexit while giving lessons of integration and liberalization based on the Brexit.

„Critically Discuss the Economic and Political Impact of the 2004 and 2007 Enlargements on the European Union"

The political relations between Ukraine and Russia as the two independent subjects of international relations were established in 1991 after the eighth December of the same year signed the Belavezha agreement between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, which marked the end of the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as " subject of international law and geopolitical reality "and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. From that moment we can talk about the beginning of the existence of full political relations between Russia and Ukraine.

European Union’s attention was again directed towards Albania during the Kosovo war. This was because the European Union was promoting stability in the Balkan region. There were many pacts that Albania has participated at the EU Meetings. Some of the pacts were; Stability pact for southeast which was launched in 1999; the second pact was Stability and Association process for the Western Balkan in 2000. However, these pacts were accepted, but many political issues were not settled during these pacts between Albania and EU. Many other countries and international organizations were supporting this, beside the European Union. Some of the countries were; United States, Canada, Japan. On the other hand, some of the organizations supporting this pact were organizations like NATO, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “All countries of the Southeastern European area are partners of the Stability Pact” (Thiel, 2004) and one of the members is Albania. Although the European integration it is difficult, with the assistance of European Union, Albania can progress towards the European Integration and the country can be more trustworthy for foreign investors to come and invest in Albania. But this has not been the case of Albania. Many reforms in Albania are either not implemented or poorly implemented. This means that some reforms

The European Union played a very important role in transforming post-communist countries into democratic states with functioning market economies and the rule of law. The massive transfer of institutional and legal know-how from member

Unlike the rest of Ukraine, Eastern Ukrainians have received more of a cultural and linguistic influence from Russia. The Ukrainian people are descended from the nomadic, free Cossacks. The Cossacks “neither loved the tsar not the [Polish] lord” and were a people totally separate from the Russians and Polish (Magosci 19). The roots of Russia and Ukraine reveal that the name Russia is derived from the word Kievian Rus. The Kievian Rus were Ukrainian people who had established Kiev, “the capital of the ancient Russian state” (ExpatRu). The name “Russia” was eventually adopted by Peter the Great many years later. The Russian-speaking Ukrainians have been influenced a lot by Russian culture; they have adopted the language due to the constant transfer of power between Russia (including the USSR) and other countries. Due to the lack of this knowledge, the rebels have successfully manipulated the minds of the Russian-speaking citizens into thinking they are ethnic Russians. The support the rebels show toward Russia has given them protection; Russia already seeks to expand its territory, so they completely support anything the rebels do. Historically, Ukrainians and many western Russians are Ukrainian; the arrogance the rebels have