UKRAINE and RUSSIA!

George Weigel & Yulia Tymoshenko + Viktor Yanukovich.

Original snippets were published locally in Today's Catholic. Friday, November 18, 2011.

"The emerging crisis in Ukraine"

"The Oct. 11 sentencing of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison may or may not stand.

"Miss Tymoshenko has appealed the sentence and several western governments, including the Obama administration, have lodged stiff protests over Tymoshenko's prosecution with the government of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich.

"But irrespective of Miss Tymoshenko's legal fate, a marker has been laid down.

"That the Ukrainian government would conduct, publicly, a trial on trumped up and politically motivated charges, and that the court would return a guilty verdict with a heavy penalty -- including a $190 million fine on top of the prison sentence -- makes quite clear that the current authorities have little regard for justice or democratic norms of governance.

"And that is a problem far beyond Kyiv..."

And then, he tells us! After some in - depth discussion of the issues related to said problem, Mr. Weigel concludes:

"So there is a great deal riding on the future of Ukraine: religious freedom in the former Soviet space; Putin's success or failure in building a greater Russia that will threaten Europe, strategically and by its control of oil and gas supplies; Christian ecumenism between East and West ..."

'Way to go, Professor! :)