The round table “The situation in Ukraine within the regional context”

9 February 2017

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The round table conference “The situation in Ukraine within the regional context” took place at NATO Information and Documentation Center in Moldova on May 31st 2016. The conference was attended by the local experts and the special guest –Dr. Hanna Shelest – Editor-in-chief of the academic journal “Ukraine Analytica”, member of the Board at the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and curator of the Ukrainian Peacebuilding School.
The main theme of the discussions was the conflict in Ukraine within the regional context – the issue which captured the interest of many Moldovan experts. The mode of the conflict itself is of a complicated nature, starting with the term “civil war” which is widely spread throughout Russian mass media, or “Counter-terrorism operation” – the official version that is used by Kiev or even “Undeclared war”.
Ms. Shelest explained this disorder in opinions by calling the period started from the Maidan movement till the annexation of Crimea at 2014 as the period of crisis. After the third party joined the conflict, more specifically Russia, the crisis turned into conflict that comes into universal importance.
In her speech Ms. Shelest analyzed the conflict in Ukraine through the prism of the situation in Odessa Oblast. She mentioned that many experts considered the possible transformation of Odessa into the “second Crimea” in 2014. This opinion was formed on a basis of three key factors: 1. the factor of the marginalization of the region which led to the creation of so called “island” of isolation from the political centre in Kiev; 2. language factor which promoted pro-Russian ideas among local population 3. informational factor which appeared due to the active pro-Russian advocacy and disinformation.

During the question-answer session Ms. Shelest expressed her opinion about the resolution of the conflict in Donbass. On her opinion it took the form of the frozen conflict the same as in Transnistria. Moreover, Hanna Shelest talked about the experience of Ukraine in a fight against Russian information war. The key moments of the experience involved analysis and active methods of monitoring of the information which is being spread through rumors and fake web sites.
In conclusion Ms. Shelest mentioned that Moldova is considered to be a strategic partner of Ukraine even though there was no cooperation at the level of administration for the past several years. It may be caused by the administration crisis both in Moldova and Ukraine. Besides that, the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine is a factor that defines policy and makes government concentrate on the short-term security issues.

To read more, please visit http://ukraine-analytica.org/