Ukraine has elected Petro Poroshenko as its new president by a clear majority. (Via European Parliament)
His first order of business? Pulling Ukraine back from the brink of civil war.
Ukraine's news leader is a businessman and politician who made his fortune in the candy business, earning him the nickname the “Chocolate King.” (Via Ukraine News One)
While his win isn't official yet, exit polls released Monday show got the necessary 50 percent of votes needed to avoid a runoff, placing him well ahead of his longtime rival Yulia Tymoshenko. (Via Euronews)
Poroshenko wasted no time Sunday fashioning himself as a mediator — declaring his first act as president would be to visit the heart of the separatist movement in the Donets Basin. (Via CBS)
As for what else we can expect from Ukraine's new president? He says he wants to deepen ties with the European Union.
His role in the protests that ousted his Russian-backed predecessor lend him some credibility there. (Via Channel 4)
But Poroshenko finds himself in a delicate position. Pro-Europe voters may have put him in office, but he'll still need to work with his Russian counterpart.
An international security expert at MIT told the Boston Herald: “If he leans too close to Russia in trying to resolve this dispute, then that’s going to anger his base. And if he doesn’t lean far enough, if he doesn’t find a way to compromise with Putin, then Putin can cause him all sorts of mischief.”
Putin indicated recently he’d respect the outcomes of the vote, but as the BBC’s David Stern notes “respect is not quite the same as recognition.”
