Crimea: the Next Puerto Rico? (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia)
"The United States has a state-to-state agreement with
Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico has wide autonomy on many issues, but is de facto
under U.S. jurisdiction). In a 2012 referendum, Puerto Ricans voted for incorporation
as the 51st U.S. state (in the six previous referendums, this position had
never won a majority). Now it's up to the U.S. Congress. Why wouldn't this be
acceptable for Crimea? Now more than ever, we must consider all possible options,
because the situation is developing faster than the newspapers can report."
One can only
imagine what might happen in Ukraine. Nevertheless, many Russians are understandably
interested in the fate of the Crimean Peninsula. If Ukraine falls apart, then
what happens to Crimea?
On
Feb. 19, 1954, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic handed the Crimean Oblast over to
the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic thanks to the personal initiative of Nikita
Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee. By decree,
this was formalized by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (at the time, the
country's highest legislative body). It was believed that Khrushchev
wanted to make the gift in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, when most of Ukrainian territory became
part of the Russian Empire. Furthermore, in 1948, the city of Sevastopol was
separated from the Crimean Oblast and became a "city republic"
directly subordinate to the RSFSR, but its separation
from the Ukrainian SSR was never finalized. The Soviet
authorities were not overly bothered by legal formality. It was only in 1978 under the
new Ukrainian SSR Constitution that Sevastopol was
recognized as directly under RSFSR control. Even then,
however, the original [separation] decree of 1948 was never officially
repealed.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
Modern
Russia recognized Ukraine's territorial integrity without discussion, which was enshrined
in a relevant international treaty. However, if Ukraine disintegrates, this
agreement would lose all force. What then?
Up
to now, lawmakers in the Crimean Parliament have refused to even discuss the
question of seceding from Ukraine. Yet they also periodically appeal to Russia
for help “maintaining the status” of Crimean autonomy. From the standpoint of
international law, such assistance from a foreign state would be absolute
nonsense. Furthermore, it is well known that during periods of revolutionary
change, events occur so quickly that politicians can't keep up with events and
are slow to react. As I write these lines, the majority in the Crimean Parliament
belong to the Party of
Regions under a certain Viktor
Yanukovich (who now is a political nobody). When this
article is published, it is entirely possible that the Party of Regions will no
longer exist.
Now,
in theory, public and private diplomacy should be working at full tilt. Western
countries have done their part to shape the mood in Ukraine, which has
manifested itself in the Euro-Maidan protests. Several
billion dollars have been spent on this. Russia has clearly been more miserly in
this regard, and has lost influence. It isn't clear whether or not Russia can
catch up, but it must act quickly. Moscow needs to size up the public mood,
including in Crimea, and carry out talks with politicians and public figures -
including those of the anti-Russian Crimean-Tatar minority. There are a number
of possibilities of what might happen next, but if the situation in Ukraine further
escalates into chaos, among them is that Crimea will secede from Ukraine (we
must have a finger on the pulse so that this doesn’t catch us by surprise). In
such an event, there are several legal forms of coexistence possible with
Russia.
For
instance, the United States has a state-to-state
agreement with Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico has wide autonomy on many issues,
but is de facto under U.S. jurisdiction). In a 2012
referendum, Puerto Ricans voted for incorporation as the 51st U.S. state (in
the six previous referendums, this position had never won a majority). Now it's
up to the U.S. Congress. Why wouldn't this be acceptable for Crimea? An
autonomous association could create all sorts of attractive economic
conditions. It could establish a free trade zone and put Crimean and Russian
citizens to on an equal footing just as is the case for Belarussian
and Russian citizens. Now more than ever, we must consider all possible options,
because the situation is developing faster than the newspapers can report.
