Gdzie Krym, gdzie Kosowo? Rosyjskie argumenty dla aneksji Krymu

The Russian annexation of Crimea undertaken in March 2014 violated basic principles of international law and created a dangerous precedent which constitutes a serious threat of the global dimension. Russian authorities are trying to justify its decision using unconvincing demographic, historical, humanitarian and legal arguments evoking in a flirtatious way the independence of Kosovo as an alleged precedent for the annexation of the Crimea. The Russian authorities, citing the similarity between Kosovo and the Crimea are using arguments which prove to be very doubtful if the two cases are fairly compared. In fact, the reference to the term “precedent” is justified, but with regard to the Crimea itself. Its annexation may indeed be the basis for similar actions of Russia undertaken against other countries of the former Soviet Union. Secondly, the annexation of the Crimea brought the issue of “neutral” (open-ended) attitude of some countries to the integrity of other states. It may in the future be used as an excuse by some countries, such as China, to unilaterally annex the disputed territories. In this way, the current international system and the world order can be gravely undermined.