Quadriga: Ukraine Election – Step toward Stability? | Quadriga

Ukrainian voters head to the ballot box on Sunday to elect a new parliament. President Petro Poroshenko pressed for an early vote in hopes of gaining a stable governing majority. But the bloody civil strife in the east of the country, the conflict with Russia over gas supplies and an economy on the brink of collapse are immense obstacles to achieving political normality.

Is this weekend’s election a first step toward stability in the civil war-torn country? Will a stable government in Kiev help reduce tensions with Russia? Or will it further polarize Ukrainian society? Should the west step up its support for Ukraine?

Our guests:

Inna Melnykovska is a political scientist and economist, originally from Ukraine. Currently, she is based at the Free University Berlin.

Lucian Kim, the US-american journalist has extensively reported from Ukraine. In 2011, he started a blog chronicling the Moscow protest movement on his website, luciankim.com.

Burkhard Birke, journalist and correspondent for the public radio network Deutschlandradio in Berlin.

Read more on the topic on http://www.dw.de/quadriga-ukraine-election-step-toward-stability-2014-10-23/e-17951327-9798