Ukraine in European Human Rights Regime: Breaking Path Dependence from Russia

In this article, we use the notion of ‘path dependence’ to explain, on the one hand, Ukraine’s continuing dependence on Russia stemming from the hundreds of years that the Ukrainians were governed by the Russian Empire and later the USSR. Among other things, this dependence led to some parts of Southern and Eastern Ukraine being populated by Russian-born settlers and their descendants, which is still manifested in their historical and sociocultural orientation toward a closer integration with Russia. On the other hand, the notion of ‘path dependence’ implies significant differences between Ukraine and Russia, especially due to many Ukrainians self-identifying as a European nation. The European self-identification of Ukrainians is apparent in the desire of the vast majority to overcome dependence on Russia through integration into the European political, legal, cultural, and economic system. We firmly believe that, to successfully overcome dependence on Russia, Ukraine and Ukrainians first need a fundamental recognition of European standards of human rights and the European human rights protection model in general. The success of the 2014–2018 democratic reforms in Ukraine is obvious, but no less obvious is the fact that the positive changes in Ukraine are far from irreversible. At present, the biggest threat to Ukraine is the ‘force field’ of the ‘Russian World’, and it is in being able to efficiently resist this threat that Ukraine needs Europe’s support the most.