Europe’s Homeless States Risk EU Rebuff as Putin Digs In

Arseniy Yatsenyuk looked at home with Angela Merkel yesterday as she chaperoned him around an emergency European Union summit. Yet the new Ukraine premier’s chances of getting a permanent seat in the Brussels club are becoming more remote as Russia tightens its grip on his country.

While EU leaders promise sanctions and travel bans for Vladimir Putin’s officials, Russia’s president is establishing facts on the ground every day. Yesterday, Crimea’s parliament, seized at gunpoint by pro-Russian forces last week, announced plans to hold a referendum on March 16 on seceding from Ukraine.