Over Russia's objections, Ukraine's new president on Friday signed a free-trade deal binding his country more closely to Western Europe, sealing the very agreement that triggered the bloodshed and political convulsions of the past seven months.
The EU will be awful--for people who already have freedom. Oddly, it is better for those like Ukraine who face a bleaker immediate future. Kiev can worry about a future Brussels when Moscow is safely in the distance in the rear view mirror.
I stand corrected. Ukrainians may have lost a province, but they may have escaped the bear trap that gripped them and appeared to doom them all.
Let Crimeans enjoy their stupid choice.
And to protect their choice, Ukrainians need to prepare for the next Russian aggression--if the current one in the east is actually over, of course.
