Two territories of almost equal global importance fighting for self-determination pose a pointed challenge to international organisations, particularly the UN, to priorities their very similar issues.
The one is the Russian-speaking Crimea, once an autonomous republic east of Ukraine which in 2014 opted to break away from Ukraine and “rejoined” Russia following a democratic referendum to secede.
The other is Western Sahara or, those such as the African Union who recognizes the territory’s right to self-determination – the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a former Spanish colony that has been under the disputed authority of Morocco since 1975.
In 1991, the UN-brokered a truce between the Polisario Front, a legitimate organisation of the indigenous Saharawi people and the Moroccan kingdom following 16 years of insurrection.
A UN promise for a referendum to determine if the Saharawi people prefer self-rule is yet to materialize. However, in the subsequent period, a steady increase of the UN member-states has been recognizing the autonomy of the people of Western Sahara. At the last count, at least 45 countries had a diplomatic presence in the sparsely-populated territory that comprises mostly desert.
Crimea is much more complicated. It has a population of nearly 2 000 000 at the last count and majority have close ties with Russia through language, culture, tradition and above all, families.
So, when in 2014 a pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled from offices by pro-Western forces the Crimean authorities used their autonomy to hold a referendum of cessation from Ukraine. The majority voted to leave. So they left, much to the displeasure of the West, who accused Russia of “annexing” Crimea, ignoring steps and circumstances which led to the break-away.
The ties that bind Crimea to Russia have grown stronger ever since, characterised by the erection of a 19km-long modern-day Crimean Bridge that connects the peninsula to mainland Russia.
Although most Western governments are reluctant to officially open diplomatic ties with Crimea, their businesses are nonetheless active in the peninsula as they are inside Russia. The annual Crimean Expo has become a hugely popular event for international business and networking.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia have improved markedly since the 2019 election of former comedian Volodymyr Zelensky as President of Ukraine. He succeeded a hardline anti-Russian Petro Poroshenko, who failed to win a second term of office.
But although the bilateral relations have become less frosty between the two next-door neighbours, the Western influence in the national politics of Ukraine is what worries Moscow the most.
The recent emergence of the so-called “Crimean Platform” in Kiev, is seen as an example of the hardline, pro-Western Ukrainian politicians who are determined to undermine improving bilateral relations.
Authorities in Kiev have scheduled a “Crimean Platform” summit to take place in May 2021. They have been buoyed by the recent election of President Joe Biden in the US, a well-known ally of Zelensky’s.
The idea, of course, is to reverse a course of history – the return of Crimea to Ukraine, thereby undermining the will of the people of Crimea.
So determined are some with the Zelensky administration that Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov lamented during his recent meeting with the Council of Europe’s Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic-Buric, saying: “We stressed the impermissibility of a situation with Crimea’s water blockade (by Ukraine) in violation of all conceivable conventions – European and universal.”
Moscow has also raised concern over the discrimination in Ukraine of the Russian language and the Russian-speaking part of the population Furthermore, Moscow has raised the issue with the reports of the destruction of monuments to the USSR-aligned soldiers who liberated Europe from Hitler’s Nazi Germany as well as the emergence of pro-Nazi militia groups.
In the final analysis, both the people of Crimea and the people of Western Sahara want regard for their right to self-determination, which is a fundamental human right.
In Crimea, the people exercised their democratic right to determine their future. The AU needs to lead the way in ensuring justice for Western Sahara.
The recent dirty politics of President Donald Trump endorsing the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco in exchange of King Mohammed VI’s undertaking to normalize relations with Israel is simply dirty politics.
In fact, so incensed at the trade-off are many Moroccans whose sentiment towards their king has changed for the worse. Watch this space.
