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29May15

France's ex-president Giscard d'Estaing: Crimea has never been Ukrainian

The Crimean peninsula conquered by Russia in the 18th century has never been Ukrainian, France's former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing said on Friday.

"Let's turn back to history: Russia conquered Crimea several centuries ago," Giscard d'Estaing said during a lecture at the Moscow State University.

"Crimea has never been Ukrainian," he said. "It was under Turkey's authority for a while but later [Prince Grigory] Potemkin made it part Russia. Ukraine did not participate in this process."

Crimea's reunification with Russia

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11. They held a referendum on March 16, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18.

In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the USSR's Communist Party, transferred it to Ukraine's jurisdiction as a gift.

Work to integrate the Crimean Peninsula into Russia's economic, financial, credit, legal, state power, military conscription and infrastructure systems is actively underway now that Crimea has accessed to the Russian Federation.

Despite Moscow's repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo's secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea's reunification with Russia.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 29May15]
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