 |
| Russian military invasion in Ukraine (Image: Bloomberg) |
Situation in Ukrainian Crimea, occupied by Russian troops since 28
February, remains tense, as Russia refuses to de-escalate the situation despite
the calls of Ukrainian government and increasing international pressure,
accusing Russian administration of brutal violation of Ukrainian and
international law.
Russian troops have lifted blockade of Crimean cities ahead of the
planned visit of the OSCE mission in Crimea, but after the members of the
mission have left the Peninsula, the troops have returned and continued
blocking Ukrainian military units, threatening the soldiers, who have an order
not to shot, as any wrong move from Ukrainian side could become a reason for
Russian full-scale military aggression, as it happened in Georgia in 2008.
Thus, the situation remains tense, especially after Ukrainian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has received an information about the preparation of
provocations of Russian, made by Russian soldiers dressed in Ukrainian military
uniform.
 |
| Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian interim Prime Minister (Image: The Guardian) |
OSCE has sent to Crimea its special mission consisting of military
experts in order to examine situation on the ground and to help to find the
peaceful solution. OSCE mission included representatives of Hungary, Germany,
Denmark, Ireland, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, UK, USA,
Turkey, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia. OSCE has increased
the number of its members to 40 persons. Mission was expected to work in
Ukraine since 5 till 12 March and visit not only Crimea, but also Southern and
Eastern governorates of Ukraine. Though the OSCE mission was unable to work in
Crimea, as immediately after arrival it was surrounded and attacked by Russian
military and pro-Russian separatist protesters. It’s worth mentioning, that UN
Special envoy Robert Serry, who arrived in Crimea on Wednesday, has left the
region immediately, after he was attacked and threatened by the same
pro-Russian activists. He finalized his mission in Crimea and headed to Kyiv.
OSCE mission in its turn has also left Crimea and finished its mission there
due to security reasons. Many experts and analysts state that Russia is
interested in destabilizing the situation in Crimea and in preventing
international observers from arriving and examining the issue, that’s why it
will support and back provocations aimed to demonstrate that there is chaos in
Crimea.
 |
| US President Barak Obama delivering his speech about the situation in Ukraine (Image: The Guardian) |
Meanwhile, Crimean Parliament has voted on Thursday for separation of
Crimea from Ukraine and its accession to Russia. Parliament has issued a decree
about joining Russian Federation as a federal subject, declared Vice Prime
Minister of Crimean government Rustem Temirgaliev. He also added that Crimean
authorities have already sent a request to Russian Parliament and President
Vladimir Putin asking to immediately start the formal procedures of accession
of Crimea. In addition to that they’ve declared Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea
beyond the law and labeled them as “occupants”, and Ukrainian soldiers received
an ultimatum: either they take an oath to Russia, or they will be declared
traitors.
Mr. Temirgaliev also added, that Crimean Parliament decided to set
another date for the referendum to vote for the status of Crimea. The
referendum is expected to be held on 16 March. Crimeans will be asked two
questions:
- Are you in favor
of reuniting Crimea with Russia as a subject of Russian Federation?
- Are you in favor
of retaining the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?
 |
| Refat Chubarov, Head of Crimean Mejlis (Image: Lenta UA) |
Ukrainian government and High Constitutional Court have declared that
this decision of Crimean Parliament is totally illegitimate and violates not
only Ukrainian Constitution and laws, but also international law as well.
Ukrainian Constitution doesn’t allow holding a regional referendum and, in
addition to that, any voting or referendum under the occupation and during a military
invasion is forbidden and its results cannot be recognized.
Crimean Tatars, native inhabitants of Crimea, have strongly condemned
the decision of Crimean Parliament and called on all the people of Crimea and
Ukraine to make everything possible to preserve territorial integrity of
Ukraine and its unity.
Refat Chubarov, Head of Crimean Mejlis, has declared the upcoming
referendum illegitimate and called on people to boycott it. He also asked
international community and international organizations to support Ukraine and
guarantee its sovereignty and integrity, according to the international
treaties. Due the rapid changing of situation and Russian threats international
community should take fast decisions, stated Mr. Chubarov.
In addition to that Refat Chubarov has called also on UN to send to
Crimea UN peace-keeping troops in order to guarantee safety to Ukrainians and
to stop Russian aggression.
Crimean Tatars have also addressed the heads of Turkey, Azerbaijan and
Kazakhstan asking to support Tatars in Crimean and to not allow separation of
Crimea. Ex-Head of Crimean Mejlis Mustafa Jemilev has signed this statement.
 |
| Mustafa Jemilev, ex-Head of Crimean Mejlis (Image: Crimean News Agency) |
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has declared during his visit
to Brussels, that Crimea will remain in Ukraine, and Ukrainian government will
do everything possible to preserve integrity of Ukraine. He also added that the
new government will consider granting Crimea wider autonomy. He also denied
that Ukraine is seeking US military support in resolving of the current crisis
and called on the international community to support Ukraine to peacefully and
legally resolve the crisis. Mr. Yatsenyuk has also addressed to Russian government
urging them to start negotiations.
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski has stated that the decision of
Crimean Parliament regarding the referendum and accession of Crimea to Russia
is totally illegitimate, and such a decision could be taken only on the
national referendum, not the regional one, which is not possible according to
the Constitution of Ukraine.
Meanwhile Ukrainian SBU and General Prosecution have already opened
criminal cases and started investigations on the case of separatism and
national treason of Crimean officials.
 |
| Ukrainian Arseniy Yatsenyuk with Herman Van Rompuy during the EU Summit on Ukraine (Image: Ahram Online) |
As for the international reactions, US have imposed sanctions and visa
restrictions on Russian and Crimean officials involved in the crisis. EU has
held its extraordinary Summit over Ukraine on Thursday and took the decision
regarding some sanctions to be imposed against Russia. Thu, EU stops all the
negotiations on the issue of liberalization of visa-regime for Russian and
cooperation as well.
In addition to that EU has decided to sign the political part of the
Association Agreement with Ukraine before the presidential elections. The “trade
part” of the agreement could be signed later, as soon as possible. Polish
President Donald Tusk has praised this result and stated: “We’ve achieved more than
we’ve expected”. Ukrainian government in
its turn will start preparations for the signing of the Association Agreement
with EU in the nearest future and remains with the pro-European political
course, as nearly 70% of Ukrainians support it, according to the recent polls.
No comments:
Post a Comment