This morning in Brussels Petro Poroshenko
signed the European Union Association Agreement.
This was the agreement his predecessor pulled
out from signing at the last minute back in November deciding that he still had
issues with the detail who then hot footed it over to the Kremlin to sign a
deal with a smug looking Putin.
At the time large groups gathered in
Kyiv to protest at the none signing but as the cold days passed the mood seemed to
be resigned and fatigued that the brief glimmer of hope for progress was once
again snubbed out.
Then in the early hours of one November morning just as the protesters seemed to be running out of steam someone
gave the order to use force to break up a small crowd.
In my mind this was the spark that led to
the mass surge of support and protest which escalated the agenda leading to the
government losing control of the capital and fleeing the country.
The current conflict in eastern Ukraine while
difficult to fully understand is a direct consequence of that November night in
Kyiv.
So what does the signing of the European
Union Association Agreement mean then?
I would be lying if I said I knew or
understood the detail but what I believe it represents is an opportunity for
Ukraine to catch up with the other ex-soviet EU club members who have seen their
economy and their standard of living improve over the last decade.
I’m an agronomist not an economist so how
do I know the living standards have improved?
If you spend some time in Poland and
Ukraine as I have done and are fortunate enough to be able to travel freely
across the border, the difference is jarring.
The infrastructure, the roads, the houses, the
hospitals, attitudes, the police, the authorities, the smell, even the smell is
different.
We would give an audible sigh of relief as
we crossed the border in to Poland and immediately feel slightly more relaxed with
the opposite true as we passed back in to Ukraine.
This is not a criticism of Ukraine people
or culture but an attempt to communicate the differences between two neighbouring
countries that were in broadly similar conditions back in 2004 and how they now
find themselves as a result of political action and inaction.
Coming from a Ukraine which has spectacularly
failed to progress as a nation (although individuals have done inexplicably well) the
European Union looks like a pretty good idea to me.
To be blunt 20 odd years of whatever passed as governance before failed so the EU can’t be any worse.
Lets hope Ukraine doesn't take two steps back.