Civil society in Ukraine is still much stronger and more active than in neighbouring countries. Paradoxically, two years of President Yanukovych in power gave a second birth to civil society in Ukraine, I would say.
There are strong civil society movements. Oleh Rybachuk represents one of them, the New Citizen movement. There is a lot of solidarity between different civil society activists, between different civil society groups, not only in Kiev but in the Ukrainian regions. I would like to emphasize—I mentioned this—that since the Ukrainian opposition today is not united and is very weak, and is preoccupied with the release of political prisoners from jail, opposition leaders, civil society in Ukraine actually plays the role of opposition. That is a real, influential force, and I think it would be very good if Canada assisted Ukrainian civil society to foster the Ukrainian NGO sector and independent think tanks.