Decentralization in Ukraine: A Danger of Disintegration?

The paper deals with the dangers, which decentralization has for the Ukrainian state in terms of national integrity.Through the years Ukraine managed to maintain the status of peacefully coexisting society. However, the salience of regional and often ethnicized identities in Ukraine has increased since 2004 - the year when Ukraine experienced a secessionist movement in its eastern territories. It is argued that the ethnic division issue is manipulated by the regional elites in their interests. Taking into account the unfinished process of Ukrainian nation-building, the manipulation of the ethnic division issue in the interests of regional elites, and Russian territorial interests in Ukraine, it can be suggested that the political, administrative, and economic resources, provided through decentralization, may be used by the regional elites in Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine to undermine national cohesion, to intensify ethnic conflict and even to attempt irredentism of the respective regions.

Autorentext

I am Russian of Tatar origin, born and grown up in Eastern Ukraine. My academic background includes studies in Ukraine, Germany and Hungary.