Ukraine is burning... and what is the EU doing? 

The Ukraine crisis is escalating. Apparently there are now thousands of foreign (read Russian) fighters on Ukrainian soil as well as a large number of heavy armored vehicles (read plenty of heavy tanks). At least this is what Ukrainian President Poroshenko told the leaders of Europe at a European Council meeting in Brussels on Saturday. But there also appears to be NATO evidence substantiating these claims. EU Commission President Barroso and the rest of the assembled politicians, including even overly cautious German Chancellor Merkel, have announced that further severe economic sanctions against Russia are on the table. One can just imagine the many sleepless nights Russian President Putin and his Kremlin colleagues will have due to this announcement.

The EU currently is focusing on distributing the plum jobs (read the senior appointments) in the new EU Commission under incoming EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the former long-standing Prime Minister of Luxembourg. The new EU Commission will take office on November 1, 2014.  Not least a successor for the low profile and at best modestly successful EU foreign policy representative (something like the EU's foreign minister) Catherine Ashton has to be found.

Due to the complex and byzantine wrangling among states and special interests in Europe, the front-runner for this important position appears to be Italian foreign minister Federiga Mogherini, the 41-year old political scientist who has been in her job in Rome for just over six months now. According to the New York Times, she "has little foreign experience and a reputation for being sympathetic to Russia's arguments." Wow, seems to be the right person for the job.

Incidentally, where is Obama and the White House in this increasingly escalating crisis in Ukraine? I guess focusing on the Iraq crisis and ISIS and leaving Ukraine and Russia largely in the hands of the EU. Undoubtedly this is a recipe for the successful resolution of this highly dangerous crisis in the east of Europe. After all, we need to realize that a real war has broken out between Russia and Ukraine. This is no time to allow amateurs to have a go.