Ukraine Crisis: Political Transformation vs. Security and Migration

International public opinion, especially European one, is focused on the issue of migrants reaching Europe from the Near East. Due to the scale of migration, southern neighborhood draws attention of decision-makers and the public of individual EU member states. For some countries, the number of migrants has become a problem of social nature (e.g. approximately a million migrants reaching Germany in 2015). However, the fact that a war rages on in Donbas, right beyond the EU’s eastern border, cannot be disregarded as the conflict fosters further migration problems (internal and international migration). Russo-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas has changed the perception of Ukraine’s internal situation. The conflict pertains not only to the issue of hard security (e.g. military capabilities), but touches upon soft security as well i.e. in this case, the issue of migration (both international, and one associated with Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs). It is noteworthy that events of the Euromaidan revolution resulted in one of the more violent transformations, not only in the post-Soviet space, but also continental Europe. In addition, Russia’s destabilization of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea undeniably constitute the greatest European security crisis since the Balkan war of 1990s. Undeniably, when faced with economic, military and social problems (e.g. IDPs), Ukraine will not be able to manage the situation on its own without external financial aid.