Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

by Adam Tooze

Securely embedded in both the EU and NATO, Hungary could afford to take the risk of balancing between East and West. A tiny candidate country for an EU Association Agreement, like Armenia, menaced by sanctions from Russia, was not in the same position. Faced with a clear threat from Moscow, in September 2013 Yerevan pulled back. It declared its intention of joining Putin’s Eurasian Customs Union, prompting Brussels to close the door on the Association Agreement.31 This setback for the EU’s Eastern policy made Ukraine all the more important. Given its size and geopolitical significance, it was Kiev’s posture that would decide the balance of influence in the region. The EU was convinced of its own legitimacy. It offered the rule of law and prosperity. Its promise was the future. Ignoring the evident risk that Ukraine was too weak economically, too fragile politically and too exposed in geopolitical terms to stand the pressure generated between Russia and the West, Brussels pushed forward.