When Crimea was transferred to Ukraine, both Russia and Ukraine were part of USSR.
So it was sort of like transferring the UP of Michigan to Wisconsin. Nobody at the time thought it was particularly important.
If they had, the transfer would probably never have taken place.
It should also be noted that the inhabitants did not freely decide to become Ukrainians. IOW, this reaccession to Russia has arguably more democratic and electoral legitimacy than the earlier transfer to Ukraine.
I think Yoopers would be quite upset to find themselves Wisconsinites.
And anyhow Russia was the center of this mess and the whole thing was often called “Russia.”
Plus Crimea gets a President for Life thrown in with their vote today. No need for anymore votes.
Yup. The voters decided that and we can argue til we’re blue in the face whether this referendum should have been held under other circumstances.
Nevertheless, the result represents a new geopolitical reality. Whether Kiev and the West come to terms with it is their problem. But its clear Crimea is gone to Russia for good now.
From an earlier post:
Self-determination is a universal principle. But any referendum done at the point of a gun is illegitimate.
So let's look at the previous referendums that Crimea has had to get an idea of just how pro-Russian they really are.
Crimea held a referendum in January 1991 to effectively separate themselves from the collapsing USSR with 94% of the vote.
Crimea held another referendum declaring themselves an autonomous republic of Ukraine in December 1991 with 54% of the vote, officially separating themselves from the USSR and joining Ukraine.
The rest of Ukraine voted for independence with 90% of the vote.
It was the closest vote in the entire Ukraine, with a bare majority favoring joining Ukraine, but it WAS a majority. Keep in mind also that at this time most of the Tatars that were to return later had not arrived yet, and any legitimate referendum today would include their votes.