Dictators rest easier as EU self-implodes, but Ukraine offers hope

Ukraine’s belief it was forging closer ties with the West was shaken by Brexit, but it remains a vital ally on the frontier between democracy and autocracy writes Erik Berglof.

The outcome of the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum shocked populations across Europe. But watching the response in Lviv, in Western Ukraine — a hub of enthusiasm about the European Union – was particularly jarring.

At a time when irresponsible opportunists and populists in the UK are taking a wrecking ball to their country’s own institutions, and those of Europe, Ukrainian reformers are trying to build something new.