Ukraine - Security and Law Enforcement Corruption Block

Petro Poroshenko, an ally of President Viktor Yushchenko, and head of the Ukranian Security and Defense Council, was quoted by AP, "There is a powerful blockade of necessary reforms and one can see a lack of will and even understanding for need for the implementation of reforms."

He continued by saying the actions of the Interior Ministry, the state Security Service, the Prosecutor General’s office and other agencies "sometimes create a threat to national security." As a result he concluded that none of the agencies are capable of confronting the threats the nation faces: "corruption, economic crime, terrorism, extremism… in their present Soviet-era configuration."

This is a smaller example of the same problems faced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Only when these threats, and the states that finance them, threaten more essential services and become more of a risk to the economy will the officials be removed that are responsible for the crisis. If they are not then the government will collaspe.

I think Putin, and with Berlin’s assistance, is able to do enough in time, but with this observation by Poroshenko, I am not so confident about Ukraine. Events may overtake them. They may end up being re-absorbed into Russia like the rest of Central Asia at the end of the war.

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