Carnegie Europe: Remember Crimea? A Year Later

2015/3/27 16:26:16

The regional referendum on the peninsula’s status orchestrated by Russia was a far cry from a free and fair vote. However, it is possible that even under democratic conditions, a narrow majority might have supported integration with the Russian Federation. We will never know. 

 


Commentary by GWENDOLYN SASSE for Carnegie Europe, March 27, 2015

 

In March 2014, Russia’s annexation of Crimea temporarily topped Western news. It epitomized the end of what many in the West had believed was the agreed international legal framework of the post–Cold War era.

 

One year later, the issue is all but forgotten. The invasion marked only one step in the dramatic escalation of the crisis in Ukraine that began with the Euromaidan antigovernment protests and led to Crimea’s annexation, war in the eastern Donbas region, and a standoff between the West and Russia. In a bizarre twist of events, the war, which to date has claimed over 6,000 casualties and internally displaced over 1 million people, quickly overshadowed the de facto redrawing of Ukraine’s borders.

 

For complete text, link below:

http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceur ... I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D

 


 

 

 

 

 

Printer Friendly Page Send this Story to a Friend Create a PDF from the article