Crimea and the many different views
Sovereignty
conflicts like Crimea in which several international agents claim sovereign
rights for different reasons over the same piece of land have a particular
feature:
their solution seems to require a mutually exclusive relation amongst
the agents because it is thought that the sovereignty over the third territory
can be granted to only one of them. Indeed, sovereignty is often regarded as an
absolute concept (that is to say, exclusive, and not shareable).
Crimea
is a clear example of a zero-sum game, with many negative outcomes of different
sorts (e.g. social struggle, tension in international relations, and threat to
local and international peace).
Thus, while these conflicts are in principle
confined to specific areas and start with negative consequences primarily for
the local population, they tend quickly to expand to the regional and—even—the
international level (e.g. effects on international price of oil, arms
trafficking, terrorism, war).
The post today
includes articles from the media covering this territorial dispute.
In all
cases, although these sovereignty conflict has been and is object of study of
many sciences—law, political sciences, international relations, only to name a
few—these sciences do not share their developments and both different
approaches and different languages were applied.
Indeed, although multi and
inter-disciplinary studies are promoted in speeches everywhere, it is more a
nominal aim rather than an actual reality.
I
realized that the answer was very simple. Some problems are never solved
because most look for more problems, problems within a problem, or just simply
give up or are so self-centered they think that problem will not affect them.
Ergo, the answer came to me: some problems like Crimea are never solved because
people (or their representatives) do not look for a solution.
The media coverage in recent times:
The
Moscow Times
What
the Russian Public Thinks of Victory Day (Op-ed)
“Crimea’s
“return” to Russia a year earlier, perceived by the population as the
reinstatement of the country’s greatness, was the primary reason for the
soaring ratings. Still, the celebration of Victory Day against the backdrop of
the international confrontation increased the necessity to rally around
leaders, while the boycotting of the military parade by the leaders of Western
countries further boosted the feeling of damaged pride.”
UNIAN
Crimean
residents remain Ukraine nationals
“all
nationals who were living in Crimea at the time of its annexation were and
stile are Ukraine nationals.”
The
Moscow Times
Most
Russians Say They Are Unaffected and 'Unworried' by Western Sanctions — Poll
“Russia
has been targeted by several waves of political and economic sanctions
following its 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and support
for separatist forces in southeastern Ukraine. In response, the Kremlin has
imposed countermeasures including an import ban on certain foods from the
European Union, the United States and other countries.”
“Russians
seem to have greeted the punitive economic measures with a collective shrug,
with 68 percent of respondents saying they are “completely unworried” or “not
too worried” about them.”
UKRINFORM
Mustafa
Dzhemilev (Ukrainian president’s commissioner for the Crimean Tatar people)
“militarization has reached tremendous proportions.
Children in kindergartens are dressed in military uniforms with St. George's
ribbons, they play military games, looking for intelligence officers, demining
something. As I was told, they even make cakes in the form of tanks - it comes
to such idiocy.
In general, Russia views
Crimea solely as a military base or, as they say, an "unsinkable aircraft
carrier." There is practically no economy there. Russians are building
strategic facilities, first of all, a huge highway "Tavrida" across
the entire Crimea, destroying green plantations, cultural monuments, as well as
causing damage to the environment.
In terms of the number of
troops, information is different. Numbers range from 60,000 to 80,000. But even
if it is about 60,000 troops, then this is a huge number for such a small
peninsula with an area of 27,000 square meters.”
The Moscow Times
Russia Rejects
Court Ruling to Compensate Ukrainian Firms for Crimea Annexation
“The
Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled this week that Russia must pay 18
Ukrainian businesses and one private entity a reported $159 million for lost
assets in the seizure of Crimea."
“The Russian
Federation doesn’t recognize the aforementioned decision because the arbitration
lacks jurisdiction in considering the case.”
OilPrice.Com
Russia may
explore Crimea gas resources
“Ukrainian
media last month reported that Russia had seized some 7 billion cubic
meters of natural gas from deposits around Crimea since the annexation of the
peninsula in 2014. “Moscow is well aware that the offshore deposits which the
gas is being stolen from are not related to Crimea, and sooner or later, it
will have to bear responsibility for illegally appropriated property and
compensate for the damage,” Ukrainian energy expert Mykhailo Honchar said.
NATO estimates the oil and gas resources of the
Crimean shelf at between 4 and 13 trillion cubic meters, which, the pact said,
would have been instrumental in Ukraine’s drive towards energy independence
from Russia.”
Focus
The Moscow Times: Putin Seeks Common Cause With
Merkel Over Trump
“Berlin and Moscow have
been at loggerheads since Russia's annexation of Crimea four years ago, but
they share a common interest in the Nordstream 2 pipeline project, which will
allow Russia to export more natural gas to northern Europe.”
NOTE:
This post is based on Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Territorial Disputes and State
Sovereignty: International Law and Politics,” London and New York: Routledge,
Taylor and Francis Group, 2020 (forthcoming)
Previous
published research monograph about territorial disputes and sovereignty by the
author, Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Sovereignty Conflicts and International Law and
Politics: A Distributive Justice Issue,” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor
and Francis Group, 2017.
NEXT
POST: Crimea and the egalitarian shared sovereignty
Thursday 20th February 2020
Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez
Twitter: @London1701
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