Territorial Arrangement Of Ukraine After Russia-ukraine War – Unitarism V. Federalism

A state`s territorial arrangement implies the division of the territory of the state according to a certain principle and basing on this principle the separation of powers between the existing territorial units and the center. The future of the state is greatly influenced by the issue of how correctly the model of the state organization is chosen, how precisely it is adjusted to the psyche of the nation and the regularities of historical development, how far the world practice is taken into account and how valid conclusions are drawn from it. Adopting the wrong model is not only a legal flaw that hinders the development of the country and prevents it from fulfilling its functions, but also often puts an irreparable damage on the spiritual condition of the society, its character and psyche, turns it off, creates controversy, which ultimately leads to the decline and dissolution of the state.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and gaining independence, the constant problem of the Ukrainian state was the search for an optimal balance between federal and unitary aspirations and the development of a new territorial division. There were frequent opinions and projects about decentralization of Ukraine in general, as well as deep decentralization (regionalization) and federalization. This issue gained special importance after the Minsk agreements of 2014-2015, which in a sense was a step towards federalism.

The present study concerns the future territorial arrangement of Ukraine. Both the main features of the existing territorial structure and future trends are analyzed in it. The research does not concern the level of local self-government and their competences, moreover, the research does not claim to present a ready-made recipe for the future territorial arrangement of Ukraine, but the main goal of the research is to answer the conceptual question - Ukraine should be unitary or federal state?

It is likely that, taking into account the new reality created after the end of the Russia-Ukraine war, the issue of the territorial arrangement of Ukraine will again be on the agenda, which adds even more relevance to the present paper.

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