NP: European Westsplaining

[Mark Kohut]

Under international law and accepted by most countries in the UN, Crimea is
NOT a separate country. Here,
from a major German journal is a typical article stating it baldly via the
Constitution. And stating its autonomy in local matters:


   1.  Marxen, Christian (2014). "The Crimea Crisis – An International Law
   Perspective" <http://www.zaoerv.de/74_2014/74_2014_2_a_367_392.pdf> (PDF)
   . *Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
   (Heidelberg Journal of International Law)*. *74*. Organizing and holding
   the referendum on Crimea's accession to Russia was illegal under the
   Ukrainian constitution. Article 2 of the constitution establishes that
   "Ukraine shall be a unitary state" and that the "territory of Ukraine
   within its present border is indivisible and inviolable". This is confirmed
   in regard to Crimea by Chapter X of the constitution, which provides for
   the autonomous status of Crimea. Article 134 sets forth that Crimea is an
   "inseparable constituent part of Ukraine". The autonomous status provides
   Crimea with a certain set of authorities and allows, inter alia, to hold
   referendums. These rights are, however, limited to local matters. The
   constitution makes clear that alterations to the territory of Ukraine
   require an all-Ukrainian referendum.



On Sun, Apr 10, 2022 at 5:50 PM Hübschräuber via Pynchon-l <
pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

> ------ Original Message -------
> Martin Dietze <mdietze at gmail.com> schrieb am Donnerstag, 7. April 2022 um
> 12:45:
>
> > It is also about Eastern European people's
> > right to freely choose their preferred way of life and of course also
> > alliances.
>
> This goes for the people of Crimea as well, I assume?
>
> "By May 1992, 250,000 of Crimea’s roughly two million mostly Russian
> people had signed a petition asking for a referendum on independence –
> enough to trigger a vote under Ukrainian law. On May 5 that year, Crimea’s
> parliament voted 118 to 28 to secede from Ukraine. But the Kiev government
> prevented a referendum from taking place."
>
> https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
>
> As for the so-called annexation of Crimea, and according to noted Russian
> propaganda outlet PEW Research:
>
> "Crimean residents are almost universally positive toward Russia. At least
> nine-in-ten have confidence in Putin (93%) and say Russia is playing a
> positive role in Crimea (92%). Confidence in Obama is almost negligible at
> 4%, and just 2% think the U.S. is having a good influence on the way things
> are going on the Crimean peninsula."
>
>
> https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/05/08/despite-concerns-about-governance-ukrainians-want-to-remain-one-country/
>
> So, did the people of Crimea also have the "right to freely choose their
> preferred way of life and of course also
> alliances"? What do you think, Martin?
>
> As a bonus:
>
> "Q. Could the current war have been avoided?
>
> A. Very much so. President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected largely on a
> promise to seek peace, which he courageously did in 2019. But political
> rivals and hard-Right militias both opposed him.
>
> On a visit to soldiers on the front line, he told one Rightist who
> lectured him: ‘You can’t issue me ultimatums. I’m the president of this
> country. I am 42 years old. I’m no sucker. I came here to tell you to move
> your weapons away from the front line.’ But in the end, Mr Zelensky gave in
> to the pressure, and the peace deal withered away."
>
> https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
>
> The Grayzone reported the same. As you can read the original sources -
> what is your assessment of these reports, Martin?
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>