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Democracy and Human Rights Policies / Policy Brief

Post-Orange Ukraine: The lesser evil?

21/01/2010 By Balázs Jarábik, Natalia Shapovalova

With Viktor Yanukovych, the largest opposition party leader, and Yulia Tymoshenko, the current Prime Minister, competing in the second round run-off of the presidential election in Ukraine on February 7, Ukrainians will have to elect ‘the lesser evil’. While the election result is difficult to predict, it is clear that Ukraine will continue to be politically turbulent in the short and mid-term. Although it is thought that the eventual loser will likely question the election results, no matter who wins, the two candidates are not generally perceived as capable of consolidating the country’s fragile democracy and improving governance.

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Keywords

Democracy Elections Ukraine

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Bio author: Balázs Jarábik

Balázs Jarábik is an associate fellow. His research mainly focuses on CIS affairs, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and democracy promotion.

Bio author: Natalia Shapovalova

Natalia Shapovalova is a researcher at FRIDE. Her research focuses mainly on Ukraine, Eastern Partnership, EU enlargement, Russia, and the Caucasus.