Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, could be the next flashpoint in the new Cold War. And any violent disturbance in Crimea could provide the political seismic shock to split Ukraine itself along its existing fault lines of ethnicity, language and religion. The Crimean peninsula is the only part of Ukraine where ethnic Russians are in a majority. Many of them are deeply resentful about being part of Ukraine and openly call for annexation by Russia. Moscow has fostered pro-annexation groups for years.Vasyl Ovcharuk, a Ukrainian-Crimean political activist, said: "Moscow has laid the foundations for the occupation of Crimea with years of careful propaganda. It's like Hitler's excuse of helping the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland as justification for the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. I have no doubt that, now that the Georgian conflict is over, Russia aims to take over Crimea.The level of hatred against anything Ukrainian here is astonishing. Many people have been attacked in the street for merely speaking Ukrainian. You can talk French, German, or Chinese here without problems but if you speak Ukrainian, people often come up and start insulting you."
Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, could be the next flashpoint in the new Cold War. And any violent disturbance in Crimea could provide the political seismic shock to split Ukraine itself along its existing fault lines of ethnicity, language and religion.
The Crimean peninsula is the only part of Ukraine where ethnic Russians are in a majority. Many of them are deeply resentful about being part of Ukraine and openly call for annexation by Russia. Moscow has fostered pro-annexation groups for years.
Vasyl Ovcharuk, a Ukrainian-Crimean political activist, said: "Moscow has laid the foundations for the occupation of Crimea with years of careful propaganda. It's like Hitler's excuse of helping the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland as justification for the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. I have no doubt that, now that the Georgian conflict is over, Russia aims to take over Crimea.The level of hatred against anything Ukrainian here is astonishing. Many people have been attacked in the street for merely speaking Ukrainian. You can talk French, German, or Chinese here without problems but if you speak Ukrainian, people often come up and start insulting you."
Demands for greater autonomy from Ukraine
With the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine. There have been moves for secession, which has been resisted. In 1991, in a referendum organized by the regional soviet (council), the peninsula's citizens voted overwhelmingly in favour of restoring Crimea as an autonomous republic independent of the Ukraine. The referendum was opposed by representatives of the Tatars, who sought restriction of the voting solely to their community, and by the Ukrainian nationalist group Rukh. In September 1991, Crimea's parliament declared its independence but this was not recognized by Ukraine. In 1992, Ukrainian president Kravchuk authorized the use of `all necessary means' to prevent Crimea's secession, which persuaded Crimea's parliament to rescind its declaration of secession and remain as an autonomous republic within Ukraine. In May 1992, Russia voted to nullify the 1945 [sic 1954] transfer of Crimea to the Ukraine and called for bilateral talks on the republic's status. In March 1994 a regional referendum overwhelmingly supported demands for increased autonomy and for Crimeans to have the right to take Russian citizenship. In 1995, the Ukrainian parliament abolished Crimea's constitution and removed from power Crimea's pro-Russian president, Yuri Meshkov, for exceeding his authority and Ukraine's new president, Leonid Kuchma, took over direct control of the Crimean government.
The parallel between Munich is uncalled for.
The Crimean peninsula is the only part of Ukraine where ethnic Russians are in a majority.
Putin has made it perfectly clear that Ukraine cannot enter the NATO without resolving the question of Crimea long before the current events. Either Russia intends to back up its words with actions or it's a bluff that Russia cannot afford to make.
