Amidst the raging war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, the Minsk Agreement signed by Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France on 12 February 2015, calls for decentralisation as a key element of the constitutional reform of Ukraine to be enacted by the end of 2015. Despite the fact that the terms of the Agreement are being breached by parties to the conflict, decentralisation of power is widely seen as crucial for resolving the crisis and bringing peace to the country.
Decentralisation being too vague a notion, what kind of a decentralisation project will achieve the stated objectives?
Summary
- The paper discussesthree decentralisation designs considered by either of the parties to the conflict in the east of Ukraine as instrumental in resolving the crisis: the devolution of power to local territorial communities, the territorial autonomy of Donbas, and the federalisation of the state.
- Devolution of power to local communities is already being implemented by the government of Ukraine and regarded the most optimal design by Ukraine’s donors and partners – the World Bank, the EU and OSCE – the autonomy of Donbas and the federalisation projects are part of the rhetoric of the self-proclaimed entities in the eastern regions of Ukraine at the negotiation table with Kyiv.
- Each of the decentralisation projects bears risks for territorial integrity and long-term development given the current level of state capacity and crisis.
- Only the devolution of power to local territorial communities, if properly implemented, will delegitimise claims of the rebel groups in the Donbas region, prevent any secession attempts in the future, and strengthen the state.
- Confederation is not brought up by any of the parties to the conflict as an option and is a very unlikely institutional design under the given circumstances as there are no two istinct nations to form clear-cut units and therefore, for practical reasons, this design will not be covered in the paper.
Alesia Kompaniiets Decentralisation Projects In The Context Of Resolving The Crisis In Ukraine
You might be interested in: Arkady Babchenko faked death operation