On the 18th of February 2010 the Finnish Institute of International Relations held a seminar where senior researcher at the Institute Igor Torbakov presented his report "The morning after: Where is Ukraine headed under President Yanukovych?”. The seminar was attended by the representatives of the Finnish Institute of International Relations, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Finnish media and diplomatic corps accredited in Helsinki. Counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine  O.Selin acted as commentator of the report.

In his report I. Torbakov outlined his vision of the situation in Ukraine after the presidential election and described the constraints the country’s new leadership will have to cope with in pursuing domestic and foreign policies.

In conclusion I.Torbakov stressed that it would cost the EU virtually nothing to offer Ukraine the prospect of eventual membership. The Union’s failure to do this in the immediate aftermath of the Orange Revolution was variously characterized as a “lack of vision” or an “acute case of strategic myopia”. It’s high time for Brussels to correct its strategic vision.