On November 25, in Kiev, Ukraine, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Heinrich Boell Foundation of Germany hosted a first expert seminar on developments and democratic progress in Georgia and Ukraine since the recent Rose and Orange revolutions in the two countries.

A first session was devoted to political institutions and the rule of law. In Georgia, a number of achievements and reform steps, including police reform, the curbing of petty corruption and the renewal of public service structures, were pointed out by experts. In Ukraine, in turn, lack of a reform program and conflicts within the orange camp led to the return to power by Victor Yanukovych and have, more generally, resulted in stagnation rather than further reform for the last two years.

Debate then turned to civil society and the media, both of which played such a critical role in democratizing both countries. In Ukraine, civil society has transited from revolutionary "emotional activism" to more structured advocacy and is building inroads into the full spectrum of public institutions and policy areas. Georgian experts were more critical of the situation of civil society in their country, noting challenges such as the need to establish a new relationship between civil society and politics, the heavy toll of brain-drain as civic leaders joined politics, and the longer-term transformation towards a political culture of civilized relations among opposing views and actors. In the media sphere, relatively few changes were noted for Ukraine, while Georgia witnessed a weakening attributed to President Saakashvili's proactive communications strategy. Challenges remaining in both countries include attempts at political influence, lack of professionalism, and "corporate censorship" by media owners. However, one of the central achievements in both countries - freedom of speech - appears unquestioned and contributes to open and critical debate.

Regionalism and identity were the theme of a third discussion. Georgia struggles not only with separatist tendencies in South Ossetia and Abkhasia but also faces problems with its Armenian and Azeri minorities. Ukraine, in turn, faces an electoral polarization between East/Center and South/West that is, however, often overstated, as it is neither separatist nor political-program or ethnicity-based. The last discussion addressed social and economic developments. Economically, both countries have seen considerable growth recently, and despite earlier negative forecasts especially in Ukraine. In Georgia, growth was helped by reforms that facilitated business development and the construction of the major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. However, problems in Ukraine remain with deficient competitiveness, corruption and access to international markets, and the focus of the new government on large enterprises under-appreciates the significance of small and medium-sized businesses.

The meeting brought together forty leading experts from Georgia and Ukraine, Western Europe and North America. Policymakers included MP's Levan Berdzenishvili of Georgia and Hryhoriy Nemyria of Ukraine, joined by analysts, such as GMF senior transatlantic fellow Taras Kuzio, Ukraine specialists and professors Dominique Arel and Marta Dyczok of Canada, civil society leaders David Darchiashvili and Baadur Koplatadze from Georgia, EU senior policy advisor Sofia Moreira de Sousa, and Dietmar Stuedemann, advisor to the President of Ukraine, as well as representatives of numerous institutions, think tanks and non-governmental organizations from both countries and internationally.