Cover Osteuropa 9-10/2014

In Osteuropa 9-10/2014

Change at the Ballot Box
The Presidential and Parliamentarian Elections

Gerhard Simon


Deutsche Fassung

Abstract

The election of a president and a new parliament legitimized the revolutionary changes that took place in Ukrainian civil society back in February. Civil society cannot govern the state on its own; it needs democratic institutions. The election showed that a clear majority of voters are for the country’s westward course. Russian policy contributed to this consolidation of Ukrainian society in that it largely discredited the pro-Russia orientation in Ukraine by annexing the Crimea and invading the Donbas.

(Osteuropa 9-10/2014, pp. 155–168)