Ukraine in Crisis : The Economic and Security Consequences for European Union, Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine experiences unarguably the most challenging times in its modern history. The, so- called, “Ukraine crisis” has turned due to the projection of Russia's military force in Crimea and the East of the country from an internal political conflict into a multi-level global crisis with significant consequences for Europe. The combination of domestic political challenges, severe deterioration of Ukraine's oligarchic type of economy, war in the East of the country as well as the need for securing international financing and diplomatic support, put Ukraine in an extremely difficult position and on the top of the global political agenda. The authors also analyse Russia's hybrid warfare showing how it justifies its actions and revealing the striking divergence in the reality on the ground and official Russian statements. In order to secure its national interests, Russia violated international law, broke its multilateral and bilateral commitments to Ukraine and took adversary stance towards the West blaming it to for the eruption of the crisis. This newly emerged situation in Eastern Europe significantly increases the insecurity of the former post-soviet republics as well as the possibility of a larger military collision. The paper also aims to provide a brief overview of EU policies preceding the Ukrainian crisis, and offers an analysis of responses of key actors (including Germany) involved in the Ukrainian crisis. Furthermore, the authors also put emphasis on the analysis of the current domestic developments in Ukraine, formulate implications specifically for Slovakia, as well as make short-term predictions regarding the future of political cooperation in Europe