3/7/2014

Crimean referendum, 2014 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crimean referendum, 2014

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A referendum on the status of Crimea is scheduled to be Crimean referendum, 2014 held on 16 March 2014 by the local government of Crimea; 16 March 2014 (in 9 days) Date an autonomous republic part of Ukraine but comprised [1] majorly by ethnic Russians. Amid tensions in the region due Location Crimea, Ukraine by the Ukrainian revolutionand as the newly installed Subject whether Crimea should join the Russian government in Ukraine began to distance itself from Russia Federation, or remain part of the Ukraine unidentified pro-Russian troops alleged to be local selfwhile restoring Crimea's 1992 defense forces took over Crimea on February 2014. Under constitution siege, the Crimean parliament approved to hold a referendum to ask the Crimean people whether Crimea should formally Related 2014 Crimean crisis join the Russian Federation or remain part of Ukraine.[1] The events newly installed Ukrainian government, Crimean Tatars, and several nations, however, have argued that any referendum held by the local government of Crimea without the express authority of Ukraine is unconstitutional and illegitimate; an authority that the local Crimean government currently lacks under Ukrainian law.[1]

Contents
1 Background 2 Questions 3 Reactions 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

Background
Crimea became a part of independent Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, shortly after Crimea had re-gained its autonomy following a 1991 referendum.[2] Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma abolished the Crimean Constitution and the office of President of Crimea in 1995.[3] Crimea gained a new constitution in 1998 that granted less autonomy; notably, any legislation passed by the Crimean parliament could be vetoed by the Ukrainian parliament.[2] In February 2014 about 41% of Crimean people wanted Ukraine to unite with Russia. In 2013 only 35.9% of Crimean people shared the same opinion.[4] According to the 2001 Ukrainian population census 58.5% of the population of Crimea are ethnic Russians, 24.4% are ethnic Ukrainians and 12.1% are Crimean Tatars.[5] All Tatars were deported from Crimea and many killed in May 1944 by Stalin's order. Only after 1991 they were able to return in greater numbers to Crimea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_referendum,_2014 1/5

3/7/2014

Crimean referendum, 2014 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally the referendum was to be about the status of Crimea within Ukraine and was originally set for 25 May 2014, but later pulled forward to 30 March.[6][7] The referendum was approved by the Supreme Council of Crimea on 27 February 2014 but the Central Election Commission of Ukraine denounced it by stating that the Crimean authorities do not possess the legal jurisdiction to conduct it.[8] Regarding the referendum's initial purpose, The Daily Telegraph reported on 27 February 2014 that it, "appears to be for greater autonomy within Ukraine rather than for full independence."[9] On 4 March 2014 the district administration court of Kiev cancelled the decision of the council concerning no confidence vote to the Council of Ministers of Crimea and the appointment of Sergey Aksyonov as a chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea and declared the organization and conduct of local referendum on improving the status and powers of autonomy as illegal.[10] On 6 March 2014 acting President Turchynov announced "In accordance with power I am conferred on, I have stopped the decision of the Crimean parliament. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will initiate dissolution of the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. We will defend the inviolability of the Ukrainian territory."[11] On the same day, The Crimean parliament voted to move the vote up to March 16. According to the article 3 of the Law of Ukraine "on pan-Ukrainian referendum," territorial changes can be approved via pan-Ukrainian referenda.[12] The Central Election Commission of Ukraine also stated that there are no judicial possibilities, according to the legislation of Ukraine, to initiate such changes.[13] Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko claimed that the referendum was under assault rifles and, thus, through violence.[14]

Questions
There will be two questions on the ballot with voters able to choose only one option:[15][16] Question 1: Are you in favor of reuniting Crimea with Russia as a subject of the Russian Federation? Question 2: Are you in favor of retaining the status of Crimea as part of Ukraine and restore the 1992 constitution? The referendum will be decided by a simple majority.[a] It is unclear whether the questions are mutually exclusive and independent from each other. It is also unclear how the simple majority system will work for two separate polar questions whose contradictory outcome may tie. The situation is confounded even further as media outlets reported different translations for each question.[15][16] According to Crimean MPs, Sevastopol, which is administered separately from the rest of the Crimea, will also be included in the referendum process.[15] However, on 6 March 2014, Sevastopol unilaterally declared itself a federal subject of the Russian Federation.[18] Russian was chosen as the language for the ballot's text since according to the latest local census, 77% of Crimean inhabitants named it as their native language; in comparison to a lesser 10.1% which identified Ukrainian as their native language (which happens to be sole official state language).[19] Russian is also the pervasive language in government affairs carried out in the region with attempts to expand the usage of Ukrainian in education and government affairs being less successful in Crimea than in other areas of the nation.[20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_referendum,_2014

2/5

3/7/2014

Crimean referendum, 2014 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reactions
Domestic The Ukrainian government has announced it will not recognize the referendum. Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov stated It is not a referendum, it is a farce, a fake and a crime against the state which is organized by the Russian Federations military."[21] The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People has announced Crimean Tatars will not take part in the referendum, and deem it illegitimate.[22] International recognition Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Canadian government will not recognize the results of the referendum, and that the region is currently under illegal military occupation.[21] German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the referendum was illegal and incompatible with Ukraines constitution.[21] Turkey has labeled the referendum as no help for a solution to the crisis according to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolu.[23] President Barack Obama warned the referendum would violate Ukrainian sovereignty and international [21] law.

See also
Transnistria International recognition of Transnistria Territorial changes of the Baltic states

Notes
a. ^ Crimean Parliament (2014; in Russian) ", , ."[17]

References
1. ^ a b c "Ukraine crisis: Crimea MPs vote to join Russia" (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26465962). BBC News. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014. 2. ^ a b Sasse, Gwendolyn (3 March 2014). "Crimean autonomy: A viable alternative to war?" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/03/crimean-autonomy-a-viable-alternative-towar/). Washington Post. Retrieved 6 March 2014. 3. ^ "Ukraine Moves To Oust Leader of Separatists" (http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/19/world/ukraine-moves-tooust-leader-of-separatists.html). The New York Times. 19 March 1995. Retrieved 2 March 2014. 4. ^ , (http://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=236&page=1) (4 March 2014). Kiev International Institute of Sociology. 5. ^ About number and composition population of AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC OF CRIMEA by data All-Ukrainian population census' (http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Crimea), Ukrainian Census (2001) 6. ^ Sergei L. Loiko (1 March 2014). "New Crimea leaders move up referendum date" (http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-crimea-referendum-date-20140301,0,2305350.story). Los

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_referendum,_2014

3/5

3/7/2014

7. 8.

9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

15. 16. 17. 18.

19.

20. 21.

22.

23.

(http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-crimea-referendum-date-20140301,0,2305350.story). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 March 2014. "KIEV, Ukraine -- Crimea's new pro-Moscow premier, Sergei Aksenov, moved the date of the peninsula's status referendum to March 30. On Thursday, the Crimean parliament, which appointed Aksenov, had called for a referendum on May 25, the date also set for the urgent presidential election in Ukraine." ^ "Crimea parliament announces referendum on Ukrainian regions future" (http://rt.com/news/ukraine-crimeareferendum-future-014/). RT. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014. ^ "TsVK says that it is not possible to conduct the Crimean referendum" (http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/02/27/7016542/). Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 27 February 2014. ^ Merat, Arron (27 February 2014). "Ukraine crisis: Ukraine searches for missing billions" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10664833/Ukraine-crisis-Ukraine-searches-formissing-billions.html). Daily Telegraph. ^ The Court reversed the decision of the puppets of the Kremlin in the Crimea (http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/03/4/7017611/). Ukrayinska Pravda. 4 March 2014 ^ "Turchynov stops referendum in Crimea" (http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/turchynov-stopsreferendum-in-crimea-338646.html). Kyivpost.com. Retrieved 2014-03-07. ^ (http://search.ligazakon.ua/l_doc2.nsf/link1/T125475.html) ^ , (http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/03/3/7017317/) (3 2014) ^ : : (http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/timoshenko_referendum_pro_status_krimu_pid_dulami_avtomativ_e__nelegiti mnim_1915295) ^ a b c "Crimean parliament votes to join Russia, hold referendum in 10 days on ratifying" (http://rt.com/news/crimea-referendum-status-ukraine-154/). RT. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014. ^ a b "Ukraine crisis: Crimea parliament asks to join Russia" (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26465962). BBC. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014. ^ http://www.rada.crimea.ua/news/06_03_2014_1. Missing or empty | t i t l e =(help) ^ " : " (http://www.unian.net/politics/893910-sevastopol-prinyal-reshenie-o-vhojdenii-v-sostav-rf.html). Unian.net. Retrieved 2014-03-07. ^ "Results / General results of the census / Linguistic composition of the population / Autonomous Republic of Crimea" (http://wayback.archive.org/web/20090105203857/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/Cri mea/). 2001 Ukrainian Census. Archived from the original (http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/Crimea/) on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 16 December 2006. ^ Bondaruk, Halyna (3 March 2007). "Yushchenko Appeals to Crimean Authority Not to Speculate on Language" (http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/3/3/7209.htm). Ukrayinska Pravda. Retrieved 25 March 2007. ^ a b c d DE CARBONNEL, ALISSA (6 March 2014). "Harper, world leaders reject proposed Crimean referendum" (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/crimean-vice-premier-says-referendum-on-status-set-for-march16-report/article17341409/). Globe and Mail. ^ "Crimean Tatar Leader Tells People To Stay At Home, Avoid Confrontations" (http://www.rferl.org/content/crimean-tatar-leader-tells-people-to-stay-at-home-avoidconfrontations/25282669.html). Rferl.org. 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-07. ^ "Ukraine to block Crimea's referendum decision Anadolu Agency" (http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/297794-ukraine-to-block-crimeas-referendum-decision). Aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2014-03-07.

Crimean referendum, 2014 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crimean_referendum,_2014&oldid=598519934" Categories: 2014 Crimean crisis 2014 in Ukraine 2014 referendums Future referendums Politics of Crimea Referendums in Ukraine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_referendum,_2014 4/5

3/7/2014

Crimean referendum, 2014 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page was last modified on 7 March 2014 at 08:03. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_referendum,_2014

5/5