PART 2.
Ironically, Mr. Putin took the opposite position in 2008, when Kosovo declared independence. He vehemently objected to the move. Now, he cited Kosovo as a precedent for his action against Ukraine:
“We keep hearing from the United States and Western Europe that Kosovo is some special case. What makes it so special in the eyes of our colleagues? It turns out that it is the fact that the conflict in Kosovo resulted in so many human casualties. Is this a legal argument? The ruling of the International Court says nothing about this. This is not even double standards; this is amazing, primitive, blunt cynicism. One should not try so crudely to make everything suit their interests, calling the same thing white today and black tomorrow. According to this logic, we have to make sure every conflict leads to human losses.”
He conveniently ignored the fundamental differences between the cases of Kosovo and of Ukraine.
Violent ethnic conflict was going on for years between the Albanians who represented 90% of the population in Kosovo and the Serbs minority supported by the Yugoslavia central government, which carried out an ethnic cleansing program against the Albanians. Despite his claim to the contrary, there was no crack down or ethnic conflict between Ukrainians and Russians in Crimea or Ukraine.
For nine years, the Yugoslavia government and Kosovo engaged in talk but failed to agree on a solution because the government refused to make concessions on crucial issues. Only then, Kosovo democratically elected parliament voted to declare independence. That did not happen in Crimea. Only a month after a new government was formed in Kyiv, Crimea declared independence and held a referendum to unite with Russia. Strikingly, a foreign country that is Russia, took over the Crimean parliament by military force, replaced the prime minister with a separatist leader whose separatist party had received only 4% of the votes of the Crimeans in the last election. There was no negotiation regarding the status of Crimea.
Mr. Putin argued that “Russia’s Armed Forces never entered Crimea; they were there already in line with an international agreement.” It is sophism and a strange argument. According to his theory, the Americans could just surround Seoul or Tokyo with the armed forces already on their soil and force the South Korean or Japanese parliament to declare them to be a part of the U.S. And for Mr. Putin, it would clearly be totally acceptable.
Mr. Putin likened the case of Crimea to Kosovo. They are hardly comparable.
Kosovo referendum in 1991 presented a choice between independence and staying with Serbia. The Crimea referendum deliberately eliminated Ukraine as a choice for the Crimeans because it allowed them only two choices: becoming a part of Russia or independence. Either way, Ukraine would lose Crimea. The choices were clearly dictated by Russia with the help of at least a division of Russian armed forces stationed inside Crimea.
With such an uncivilized, undemocratic, and violent strategy against Crimea, he destroyed the good will he had been building up since assuming the top job in Russia. In the eyes of the world, he suddenly pulled himself and his country down to a primitive level.
The invasion of Ukraine is probably the worst political and military blunder he has committed.
(Next, Part 3)
