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The Crimean parliament in Ukraine has unanimously voted in favour of joining Russia, a move likely to further ratchet up tensions. MPs also decided to hold a referendum March 16 on whether the strategic peninsula should become part of Russia or remain in Ukraine.“This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev,” Sergei Shuvainikov, a member of Crimea’s parliament said.
“We will decide our future ourselves.’’
A referendum had previously been scheduled in Crimea on March 30, but the question to be put to voters was on whether their region should enjoy “state autonomy” within Ukraine.
The region’s deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliev, said there would now be two questions on the ballot.
“The first one: Are you in favour of Crimea becoming a constituent territory of the Russian Federation. The second one: Are you in favour of restoring Crimea’s 1992 constitution.”
According to the 1992 constitution, Crimea is part of Ukraine but has relations with Kiev.
The parliament in Crimea, which is afforded some autonomy under current Ukrainian law, voted 78 with eight abstentions in favour of holding the referendum.
About 11,000 pro-Russian troops are in control of all access to the peninsula and have blocked all Ukrainian military bases that have not yet surrendered, according to the regional leader, Sergei Aksyonov.
All or most of these troops are believed to be Russian, even though Moscow has repeatedly denied sending in soldiers.
The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond to the vote, with its leaders continuing to meet their European and American counterparts and enlist their help to solve the crisis.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk urged Russia to engage with international mediation efforts, with the United Nations and the European Union holding emergency meetings to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Yatseniuk made the plea yesterday after meeting the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz. He told a news conference that Moscow should not ignore attempts to de-escalate the tension.
“We ask Russia to respond, whether they are ready to preserve peace and stability in Europe, or they are ready to instigate other provocations and tensions in our bilateral and multilateral relations,” according to Reuters news agency.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, also expected at the Rome meeting, criticised developments of the last 48 hours, namely Nato’s decision to suspend collaboration with Moscow and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] sending a delegation to Ukraine.
In a statement published on Russia’s foreign ministry website yesterday, Lavrov said: “I want to very briefly say that we had a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the situation in Ukraine in relation to the actions that our partners are trying to take – action that does not help create an atmosphere for dialogue and constructive cooperation.”
An extraordinary meeting of EU leaders is to take place in Brussels yesterday, while the UN Security Council will hold a closed-door session in New York. — AP
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