Kiev is on fire.

The clashes between pro-EU demonstrators and the police have restarted since the government has decided to not discuss the constitutional reform.

While 20,000 Ukrainian protesters have broken police lines to advance on buildings controlled by the main governing party, more than 10 people (probably 15) are death, among which 3 agents of the police and a city councilman.

In November, Yanukovych refused an Association Agreement with the EU in favor of a loan and natural gas deal with Vladimir Putin. This decision had produced the mass protests who call for his resignation as President of Ukraine. The deputies of the opposition have called for constitutional reform to reduce the powers of Yanukovych and to increase the prerogatives of the parliament.

The European Union believes that constitutional reform, the creation of an inclusive government and fair elections are the priority tasks for resolving the crisis in Ukraine, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has said.

José Manuel Barroso has announced possible economic sanctions against Ukraine but they may not be enough to influence Yanukovych.

“We are talking minutes, not hours,” Klitschko, the leader of the Ukrainian opposition, told reporters in parliament. The government seems to tergiversate while Klitschko asks for a stronger EU intervention.

The Russian foreign ministry said that the violence was a “direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European structures that have shut their eyes … on the aggressive actions of radical forces”.

The risk that protests could increase and degenerate into a revolution are tangible. The only one political solution seems to be a real constitutional reform but Russian economic interests remain very strong in Ukraine.

 

Mattia SOZIO