Region: New Lows on the High Road to Democracy in Ukraine

The crowd was nasty, clownish and thuggish — and that was just inside parliament, among the nation’s 450 top lawmakers. But there were also tense moments outside as well, among a crowd estimated at several thousand demonstrators. Most were from the political opposition and tried to fight their way into parliament. But they were easily repelled by platoons of police and helmeted Berkut riot-control officers.

Amid the pandemonium, fisticuffs, smoke bombs, tossed eggs and vandalism of voting machines, a slim majority of the nation’s lawmakers voted to ratify an historic deal that is likely to divide the nation for months, years or even decades to come…

Read more at the Kyiv Post.