Freedom House says Ukraine concern increasing

Freedom House said that the key concerns it noted last year about Ukraine heading down a path toward autocracy and kleptocracy remain and in some cases have grown considerably worse, especially in the areas of selective prosecution of opposition figures and corruption, according to a special report released last week. The report said that sanctions against Ukrainian officials are bound to expand absent improvements in the situation for civil society, media, elections, selective prosecution and corruption.

Brad Wells: The next escalation for the West to show its displeasure with developments for Ukraine is the application of sanctions, talk of which has been increasing in recent months. As with the cold shoulder Europe has given Ukraine by not signing a landmark Association Agreement (negotiations on which were actually completed last year) and refusing to allow officials to travel to Euro-2012 matches in Ukraine, we are skeptical that threats with this particular stick will be enough to prompt a turnaround in government policy and practices. Rather, as with Freedom House’s first special report on Ukraine last year, these assessments (by a joint American-Ukrainian team) will serve as an important springboard for international and domestic criticism of the government in coming months. Much will hinge on the running of the October parliamentary election, but many observers at this point expect some irregularities, which means Ukraine could indeed face increasing international isolation as the year comes to a close.