MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - The visa regime put in place by Kyiv for Russia may be a serious mistake that builds up feelings of separatism in southern and eastern Ukraine, Foundation for Effective Politics President, expert on Ukraine Gleb Pavlovsky said.
"The policy of border closures and declarations regarding visas are a very serious mistake on the part of Ukraine. They may look like a symbolic gesture towards Russia but they actually limit economic opportunities of the population, primarily in southern and eastern regions, where people are accustomed to traveling to Russia same as they go to Kyiv. I believe this [move] will undermine the foundation of the Kyiv government and enhance the threat of separatist trends in the east and the south," Pavlovsky told Interfax on Thursday.
He also said that the new Ukrainian authorities' declaration of secession from the CIS has proven the absence of a well-considered and pragmatic foreign policy. "On one hand, secession from the CIS will look natural, because this is a particular choice. On the other hand, this choice is politically reckless - Ukraine did not use its CIS membership to put its problems and objections on the CIS debate. Anyway, the CIS could have been a useful rostrum for Kyiv," the expert presumed.
"Ukraine abandoned that [opportunity], probably, counting exclusively on support from the West. And this is another mistake of Kyiv, which demonstrates its incompetence. This is the incompetence of novices, who make simple steps, which are easily predicted, and do not use more complex ways," the expert said.
In the long run, initiatives of the kind cast doubt on the ability of the Ukrainian authorities to prepare and hold the presidential election on May 25, Pavlovsky said.