Friends in this article we will discuss one very important
international matter. I hope you might have heard in news about
2014 CRIMEAN Crisis, Pro-Russian protest in Ukraine, and about Russian military
intervention in Ukraine. Let’s go through this matter in detail.
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi)—including Crimea, which is claimed and
controlled by neighboring Russia—making it the largest country entirely within Europe. Ukraine borders Russia to the east, northeast and south, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea
of Azov to the south and
southeast, respectively.
Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket due to its extensive, fertile
farmlands. As of 2011, it was the world's third-largest grain exporter with
that year's harvest being much larger than average. Ukraine is one of ten most attractive
agricultural land acquisition regions. Additionally, the country has a
well-developed manufacturing sector, particularly in aerospace and industrial
equipment.
Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement
The Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union (EU)
and Ukraine that establishes a political
association between the two parties. The parties committed to cooperate and
converge policy, legislation, and regulation across a broad range of areas,
including equal rights for workers, steps towards visa-free
movement of people, the exchange of information and staff in the area of
justice, the modernization of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and access to
the European Investment Bank.
The parties committed to regular summit
meetings, and meetings among ministers,
other officials, and experts.
The agreement commits Ukraine to
economic, judicial and financial reforms to converge its policies and
legislation to those of the European Union. Ukraine committed to gradually conform
to EU technical and consumer standards. The EU agreed to provide Ukraine with
political and financial support, access to research and knowledge, and
preferential access to EU markets. The agreement commits both parties to
promote a gradual convergence toward the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy and European Defense Agency policies.
The agreement comes after more
than two decades in which both parties sought to establish closer ties with
each other. On one hand, the European Union wants to ensure that its imports of
grain and natural gas from
Ukraine, as well as its exports of goods to Ukraine, are not threatened by
instability in the region, believing that instability can eventually be reduced
through sociopolitical and economic reforms in Ukraine. Ukraine, on the other
hand, wants to increase its exports by benefiting from free
trade with
the European Union while attracting desirable external investments, as well as
establishing closer ties with a sociopolitical entity to which many Ukrainians
feel strong cultural connection.
The political section of the
treaty was signed on 21 March 2014 after a series of events that had stalled
its ratification culminated in a revolution in Ukraine and the ousting of the then
incumbent President of Ukraine, Viktor
Yanukovych. This ousting was sparked by Yanukovych's
refusal to sign the agreement under pressure from Russia—Ukraine's
second largest trading partner—who instead presented an association with the Russian-led customs union between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia as an alternative.
Crimean
Crisis –
The Crimean crisis is an
ongoing international
crisis principally involving Russia and Ukraine. Most developments apply to the Crimean Peninsula, a multi-ethnic region which
until February 2014 was administered by Ukraine as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the administratively
separate municipality of Sevastopol, both are populated by an ethnic Russian majority and a minority of
both ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. Currently, the Crimean
Peninsula is administered by the Russian
Federation as the Crimean Federal District.
The crisis unfolded in late February 2014 in the
aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution, which resulted in President Viktor Yanukovych's impeachment by the Ukrainian parliament after his flight from the
capital, setting May 25 for a new presidential
election, the appointment of an interim President, and
the formation of an interim government. The Yatsenyuk
Government attained recognition from
Western countries. However, the
Russian government held that Yanukovych was illegally impeached and continues
to regard him as Ukraine’s last democratically elected and legitimate
president, while considering the
Yatsenyuk government illegitimate and the result of a coup d'etat.
On 1 March, regional state
administration buildings (RSAs) in various eastern
Ukraine were briefly occupied by
pro-Russian activists. By 11 March, all occupations had ended, after units of
the local police and the Security Service of Ukraine(SBU)
re-took the buildings. In Donetsk,
protests have descended into violence on multiple occasions, including on 13
March where one pro-Kiev protester was stabbed to death. In Kharkiv, Patriots of Ukraine members
shot dead a pro-Russian protester and a passerby on the night of 15 March when
pro-Russian protesters attacked the Right
Sector headquarters.
According to officials and
pro-government eyewitness accounts not all attendees of the protests are
Ukrainian nationals; but a significant number of them are Russian
citizens. Pro-Russian
activists, meanwhile, say that pro-Ukrainian counter-protesters consist of paid
attendees and students who are under threat of expulsion from their
universities (if they fail to attend the pro-Ukrainian rallies).] Donetsk oblast governor Serhiy
Taruta alleges that rallies
in Donetsk contain ex-convicts and others who
traveled from Crimea.
Ukraine's security forces and border guards since 4 March have denied more than
8,200 Russians into the country as of 25 March. On 27 March, National Security
and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that between 500 and 700
Russians were being denied entry daily.
Following the events of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution,
a secession crisis began
on Ukraine's
Russian-leaning Crimean
Peninsula. In late February 2014, unidentified armed forces began to take
over the Crimean
Peninsula in
Ukraine. Ukraine and Western commentators identified the gunmen as Russian
Special Forces and other paramilitaries.
Russia, which has various
strategic interests in and historical ties to Crimea, insists that the forces did not
include Russian troops, but only local self defense forces, and that the up to
25,000 troops Russia is allowed to station in Sevastopol and the Crimea under
the 1997 Russia-Ukraine Agreement extended in 2010 at Kharkiv remained
uninvolved and within the treaty's limits prior to the referendum and
reunification of Crimea with Russia. Their
subsequent open involvement was said to be in response to the will of the local
population and as a
humanitarian effort to protect ethnic Russians in the region. Russia does not recognize the newly
installed interim government in Ukraine, instead recognizing ousted-President Viktor
Yanukovych whose
request for intervention has also been cited. The
Ukrainian military reaction has been limited to a mobilization of Ukraine's armed forces and reserves.
As of 3 March, Russia has stated that its troops would stay until the political
situation was "normalised".
The Supreme Council of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine, and
held a referendum on 16 March 2014 on whether Crimea should join the
Russian Federation or remain part of Ukraine with the autonomy it had in 1992. The referendum resulted in a reported turnout
of over 81%, where over 95% of voters supported Crimea joining the Russian
Federation. The events caused
alarm among the Crimean Tatar ethnic group, whose members were deported en
masse to
Central Asia in 1944 under orders from Joseph
Stalin, claiming a huge death toll. On 27 March 2014, a United Nations General Assembly resolution approved by 59% of the
member states declared the Crimea referendum invalid and called on all States,
international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any
alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of
Sevastopol on the basis of 16 March referendum.
Internationally, the United
States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Georgia, Moldova, Turkey, Australia and the European
Union condemned
Russia, accusing it of breaking international law and violating Ukrainian
sovereignty. The US, EU, and Canada threatened and later implemented
sanctions against Russian individuals considered to be involved based on
"Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial
integrity", to which Russia responded in kind. China, India and many developing countries remained
relatively neutral.
Strategic Importance -
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the Crimean peninsula with only the Strait of Kerch separating it from Russia to the east by a short 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). Crimea is a part of Ukraine but, as an autonomous republic, it has its own constitution. According to the 2001 census, 58% of the two million residents of Crimea are ethnic Russians, 24% are ethnic Ukrainians, and 12% are Crimean Tatars. As tensions escalated in the region, Russia intervened under the justification that it must "protect Russian civilians and military in Ukraine".[a]
The Russian-Ukrainian Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet, signed in 1997 and prolonged in 2010, determined the status of the military bases and vessels in Crimea. Russia is allowed to maintain up to 25,000 troops, 24 artillery systems (with a caliber smaller than 100 mm), 132 armored vehicles, and 22 military planes, on the Crimean and Sevastopol. The Russian Black Sea fleet is allowed to stay in Crimea until 2042.
Location of the Port of Sevastopol and Kacha in relation to Crimea and Russia. Newly stationed soldiers have been posted inDzhankoy,[citation needed] a major transportation hubin the Crimean peninsula where two major railways and two major European highways pass. Dzhankoy is also home to many industrial factories and is considered an entry point to Crimea.
At the same time, the Port of Sevastopol and the town of Kacha are located in Sevastopol, a city in the southwestern area of the peninsula that does not belong to Crimea administratively. Both locations hold key strategic value for Russia, economically and militarily.[100] The Port of Sevastopol, which Russia currently leases from Ukraine, is considered a key hold for maritime routes between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and by extension the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.[101] It is also one of the few warm deepwater ports in the Black Sea available to Russia.
As the Ukrainian revolution unfolded—and as the newly installed Ukrainian government began to distance itself from Russia—it may have been the case that Russia felt that its access to the port and its military bases in the Crimean peninsula were in jeopardy, according to an analyst at the CNA corporation. On the other hand, the town of Kacha serves as military headquarters for Russia's 25th Independent Anti-submarine Helicopter Regiment (25th AHR) and the 917th Independent Composite Air Regiment (917th ICAR) of the Black Sea Fleet Naval Air Force. Ensuring access to the port and Russia's military bases in the Crimean peninsula may have been two of the main factors that sparked Russia's military intervention, according to an analyst at the CNA corporation, adding that it is however hard to speculate on motivations.
Petroleum resources
Crimea also possesses several natural gas fields both onshore andoffshore, all connected to Ukraine's pipeline system. The inland fields are located in Chornomorske and Dzhankoy, while offshore fields are located in the western coast in the Black Sea and in the northeastern coast in the Azov Sea .
Russian Prime Minister Medevdev pledged to make the peninsula’s development a “national priority”. A special government ministry has been created in Moscow to oversee Crimea’s development as a special economic zone with lower taxes and reduced bureaucracy to attract investor. Moscow would also subsidize air fares to make Crimea as popular with Russian tourists as it used to be in soviet times.
Russia and US have agreed to work for a diplomatic solution in the Ukraine crisis through an inclusive constitutional reform.
Friends most of the content is from Wikipedia and “ The Hindu “ news paper. I just consolidated it. You fill daily find update on this matter in leading news paper. So keep yourself updated.
JAI HIND..
