Bone of contention Crimea

With the protests in Ukraine that began in November 2013 on Maidan (Independence Square) in Kiev and the ongoing, deep crisis in the country, Ukraine is facing its greatest domestic and foreign policy challenges since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The protests were triggered by the decision of then-President Viktor F. Yanukovych not to conclude the planned association agreement with the EU. Crimea’s accession to Russia is a consequence of the political developments in Ukraine since November 2013. This book uses comparative analysis to examine the actions of the EU member states Germany and Poland with regard to the so-called Crimean crisis and analyses the extent to which the European Union’s actions influenced the foreign policy of these countries in the Crimean crisis. The theoretical basis for this study is Robert D. Putnam’s two-level game, which links the national and international political levels.