TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2014 – As Ukraine’s president and opposition leaders signed a new deal Friday meant to end the country’s political crisis and violence that has turned its capital, Kiev, into a war zone, it remains to be seen if the proposed agreement will help shift Ukraine’s political future.
The months-long crisis, which resulted in the worst violence the country has seen since its independence in 1991, was fueled by President Viktor Yanukovych’s shelving of an agreement for closer ties with the European Union, spurring widespread protests over corruption, lack of democracy, and the country’s ailing economy.
Marko R. Stech, course director in the Department of Humanities at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University, is available to discuss the current situation in Ukraine and help bring key political and social context to the issue. Dr. Stech, the executive director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, is an expert in the region and involved in several projects focusing on Ukrainian history and culture.
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Media Contact: Tabassum Siddiqui, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 ext. 44543, tsiddiq@yorku.ca
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