Page 23 - bne_newspaper_July_28_2017

Opinion
July 28, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
ister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is the biggest and most dangerous opponent of Poroshenko. It is worth noting that Ukraine's prosecutor general Lutsenko is a close ally of Poroshenko, so his of- fice’s interest in Batjkivshchyna is just the begin- ning of the story.
It all looks like stripping Saakashvili of Ukrain- ian citizenship wasn’t just a political or personal revenge, but an episode in the ongoing game
of eliminating political rivals. It is a highly risky move, rather than a weakness, as some commen- tators in Ukraine have suggested.
One by one, Poroshenko is taking out opposition politicians, which leads to the weakening of the opposition in general. Two conclusions arise from that. Firstly, it’s certain that more challenges will be created for his political opponents; Saakashvili
was just an episode in a larger story. Secondly, it looks like Poroshenko’s main ambition is to win a second term, rather than to gradually build an authoritarian regime in Ukraine. The bad news is that Poroshenko may only be able to win by con- solidating power even further. As a result, what will be a short-run win for him, could be a long- run loss for Ukraine.
Activist, journalist and co-founder of Global Ukrain- ians, an international network of Ukrainians world- wide, Kateryna Kruk was awarded the Atlantic Coun- cil Freedom Award for her work communicating the Euromaidan revolution to the world. She predicted a frozen conflict in July 2014, which has largely come to pass, and now comments on the progress of cru- cial reforms in Ukraine.