I know that many will have forgotten the last time Washington got us involved in a war of independence. But here is a short history lesson that you may have forgotten or didnt even care to know. History is repeating in just six short years. Crimea voted to declare its independence from the Ukraine on Sunday and Russia signed a treaty with Crimea recognizing them as a independent country. The United States has declared this illegal and declared they will not recognize Crimea and will bring sanctions against Russian leaders. On February 17, 2008 the Kosovo Assembly unanimously (109 members present) voted to declare independence from Serbia. Serbia declared that the independence of Kosovo was illegal and Russia supported Serbia in that decision. However, within four days of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, fifteen countries (including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Australia) recognized the independence of Kosovo. By mid-2009, 63 countries around the world, including 22 of the 27 members of the European Union had recognized Kosovo as independent. So what makes Crimea different? Is it because Russia is supporting Crimea? The United Nations membership will likely be held up for Kosovo until Russia and China agree to the legality of Kosovo’s existence. So has Russia used the same precedent set by Washington to support an illegal government? A number of states expressed concern over the unilateral character of Kosovos declaration, or explicitly announced that they would not recognize an independent Kosovo. The United Nations Security Council remains divided on this issue: of its five members with veto power, three (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) have recognized the declaration of independence, while the Peoples Republic of China has expressed concern, urging the continuation of the previous negotiation framework. Russia has rejected the declaration and considers it illegal. So here we are again the same situation but opposite sides supporting the illegal country. Who said, history repeats itself. How long before other countries will recognize the new nation of Crimea?
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 02:18:49 +0000
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