“We encourage Kosovo to break away, then get upset when Russia tries to do the same in Crimea. What’s good for the goose, right?”
The internationally recognized right to self-determination is satisfied when a defined group is able to exercise its own choice regarding its political future. On July 2010, the International Court decided that the declaration of independence of Kosovo did not violate general international law, basically because the international law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence. WHY would be any different for the Republic of Crimea, who declared already its independence from Ukraine prior to the referendum?
According to current principles of state practice, most recently used to analyze the secessions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Macedonia, minorities within existing states can secede as a means to gain self-determination only when they meet the following six criteria for self-determination: (1) the existence of a distinct, self-defined group within a state that overwhelmingly supports separatism; (2) a legitimate claim to the territory; (3) a pattern of systematic discrimination or exploitation against a sizable, self-defined minority; (4) the central government's rejection of compromise solutions; (5) the prospect of the territory and people concerned becoming a viable state; and (6) the effect of granting or refusing self-determination on regional and international peace, the effectuation of authoritative governmental processes and respect for human rights, and the impact on both regional and global value processes.