Ukraine Between the EU and Russia ― The Integration Challenge

The Ukrainian crisis presented the gravest threat to peace and stability in Europe since the Second World War. The crisis attracted much international attention, yet little is known about how and why the EU and Russia ended up 'competing' over Ukraine. The authors unravel the deeper origins of the crisis by adopting a long-term perspective to the 'integration offers' presented to Ukraine by Russia and the EU and the choices made by Ukraine's leaders. They analyse these choices showing the key role of Ukraine's political regime in interpreting and balancing between the offers made to Ukraine. The book provides a succinct and accessible study of the complex background and multiple dimensions of the crisis, while also dispelling prevailing oversimplifications and misinterpretations. It explores the key implications of the crisis for Ukraine's interactions with the EU and Russia.

Kataryna Wolczuk is Reader in Politics and International Studies at the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies (CREES), University of Birmingham, UK. Her previous publications include The Moulding of Ukraine: Constitutional Politics of State Formation (2002) and Eurasian Economic Integration: Law, Policy, and Politics (with Rilka Dragneva, 2013).

Rilka Dragneva is Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Birmingham, UK. She works on regional integration, EU external policy, and legal reform with a special reference to Eastern Europe. Her recent publications focus on Eurasian economic integration and its overlaps with EU initiatives in the post-Soviet region.