I am a bit surprised that the Author is so subjective in his analysis of the Ukraine dimension, it suggests to me he has probably never been there or has no idea what awaits him when he does venture there.



In my experience having dealt with business people who have traded in the Ukraine it is the wild west, with thugs, gunmen and very dangerous people "literally" calling the shots.



there appears to be no limits to which the EU will not venture in its bid to expand its sphere of influence, even if pulling the bear's whiskers is the likely end point, the EU is determined to be there being a nuisance.



WHY would you want to bind the impoverished Ukraine to the EU knowing this would undermine its economic freedom and make it yet another supplicant country dependent on EU handouts, handouts may I point out that the EU does not have to prop up all these lame duck countries.



Ukraine I am sure is just one of another group of no hope recruits to the EU it wants on board....Albania...hot on its heels and the Balkans and that wilderness of misery.

The Brexit debate as you put it is a timely reminder that the EU has its own problems and should stop empire building and start sorting out the chaos it has already created. While we have ivory tower politicians busily opening doors to thugs; gun runners; people smugglers and murderers, the people of the EU have to concentrate and protect a whole range of threats none of us could have imagined we would be faced with.



EU security apparently comes second to the EU's insatiable bid for expansion and to hell with the rest of us. The wishy washy permissive neo liberal attitude of "everyone is human" and "they can all come to live in Europe" is the kind of insanity that has made Brexit the only option for the UK and the only way out for any country not willing to allow their nation to become another Syria. The EU ignores religious tensions, it refuses to accept the Islamic menace, it refuses to believe that values are not "shared" across the ever expanding EUROPE and it refuses to beef up security and eject troublemakers and tyrants.

The Ukraine will be a flashpoint between the EU and Russia, the EU with its lack of empathy and hob nailed boots should consider very carefully the pros and cons of getting involved, and (personally) I would leave it well alone and get the EU to focus on sorting out core Europe before meddling further. Europe does not have to be built in a century, it can be over a millennia - this fast track approach is cooking up horrible problems for the rest of Europe which will end in disaster. It is a shame we do not have Statesmen/women and visionaries who can see this and deal accordingly. Sadly the likes of Verhofstadt; Tusk and Barnier are a disgrace to the calling, and will destroy the EU through arrogance and ignorance.

