Ukrainian "Foreign-Policy Success" as Seen Abroad:

With each passing year, Ukraine is distancing herself from the process referred to as European unification, and through its own fault. It is being felt even today that, for instance, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary are losing serious interest in cooperation, orienting their foreign policy and trade towards Germany, France, and Austria.

Even now the "old democracies" of Europe, which really believed in Ukrainian reforms and prosperity back in 1991, are feeling disappointed. Even now it shows that neither the IMF nor the World Bank believe in Ukraine's ability to reach the level of today's Poland and the Baltic states.

On the other hand, it is not only Ukraine's Left that all too often demand what amounts to a new annexation of this country by Russia, be it via the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, CIS supranational bodies, or military and political alliances. A US research center has concluded that this is going to happen eventually.

That Ukraine is not being treated seriously in the European Union - even as a prospective member in the less than near future - is the fault of, above all, Ukraine itself, its government, and the absence of any economic progress.

This will be high on the agenda of the Central Europe and the Black Sea-Baltic summits to be held in May in Lviv and in the fall in Yalta. Maybe there still is hope: after all, no country in the world has ever made its history in as little as seven years. There is ample food for thought for certain people.

While the Polish window towards Europe is still open, more and more Ukrainians are trying to take advantage of it. But what will happen tomorrow should it close?