Send a Tweet
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 25 Share on Twitter Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 2/23/17

Reality Check: Crimea has been and wants to be Russian

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   10 comments
Message Peter B. Gemma
Become a Fan
  (1 fan)

Crimeans speak
Crimeans speak
(Image by goo.gl/images/jWnQOc)
  Details   DMCA

In an interview with ABC News last July, then-candidate Donald Trump said: "You know the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were." The ethnic split in Crimea is more than 65 percent Russian versus 15 percent Ukrainian, and the results of a poll by the German firm GfK, published just a year ago, revealed that 82 percent of Crimean respondents supported the annexation

Last month, President Trump and President Putin held a phone conversation and there was no discussion on Crimea's status. That makes sense since geopolitically Crimea matters far more to Russia than to Europe or America ( Americans are inclined not to get involved in Crimea. According to a Rasmussen Reports survey, 58 percent of Americans want Washington to stay out of Crimea.)

Historically, Catherine the Great formally absorbed Crimea into the Russian empire in the 18th century. In 1921, during the Russian revolution, the White Army controlled Crimea for a short time but it was quickly morphed into the Soviet Union. Crimea only became part of Ukraine when Nikita Khrushchev, by an impulsive stroke of the pen, gave the peninsula to his native land in 1954. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Crimea ended up inside an independent Ukraine. Vladimir Putin described the situation this way: "Millions of Russians went to bed in one country and woke up abroad. Overnight, they were minorities and the Russian people in Crimea became one of the biggest if not the biggest, divided nation in the world."

By refusing to demonize Putin, Trump has frustrated Republican and Democratic politicians. He has taken the reasonable position that, whenever possible, the U.S. should work with Russia in areas of mutual concern, and Crimea was low on the list of priorities.

But just as U.S.-Russia-Ukraine-Crimea policies were solidifying, the White House now insists that President Trump "has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea."

Stop right there. It's time for a reality check. The Crimean vote to re-join Russia is in compliance with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 15: "Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality." (I don't like the U.N. much either, but some tenets are universal.)

Meanwhile, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley claims that, "The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea." Haley may be excused since she's new and likely unfamiliar with Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2 of the U.N. Charter: "To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of self-determination of peoples."

In this apparent flip-flop on Crimea, the administration has not addressed Vladimir Putin's observation:

"Kosovo is a precedent our Western colleagues created with their own hands, in a very similar situation, when they agreed that the unilateral separation of Kosovo from Serbia -- exactly what Crimea is doing now -- was legitimate and did not require any permission from the country's central authorities. If the Kosovars have the right to self-determination, why should people in Crimea not have it?"

As pundit Eric Margolis points out, "President Putin keeps bringing up history to justify his assertive policies towards Ukraine and Crimea. This annoys Americans, who know little about history and refuse to accept Russia as a great power -- and certainly not as an equal."

While the U.S. sputters contradictions, diplomats, legislators, public figures, businessmen, scientists, and journalists from 60 countries invested time and talent in Crimea in 2016. It's time to catch up with the real world.

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Funny 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Peter B. Gemma Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Peter B. Gemma is a award-winning freelance writer and veteran political consultant. He has been published in a variety of venues including: USA Today (where more than 100 of his commentaries have appeared); The American Thinker, The Daily (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The New Poll Tax: Ballot Access Laws Foil Independent Candidates

Prediction: Third Parties Will Win

Non-Voters Win (Again)

Interview with Independent Presidential Candidate Rocky De La Fuente, "Kennedy Democrat"

Reality Check: Crimea has been and wants to be Russian

Tariffs Work for American Workers

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend