| Series Title | EurActiv |
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| Series Details | 28.02.14 |
| Publication Date | 28/02/2014 |
| Content Type | News |
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In the context of the turmoil in Ukraine during February 2014, the Ukrainian region of Crimea became a 'hot spot'. Crimea with an ethnic Russian speaking majority and home to Russian Black Sea fleet had many who disapproved of the over throwing of Viktor Yanukovich as President of Ukraine and the installation of a new government in Kiev. On the 27 February 2014 armed men seized public buildings and hoisted the Russian flag in Crimea. On the following day it was reported that access to the (mainly military) airports at Sevastopol and Simferopol had been blocked to armed militias whose allegiance was not known. On the 27 February 2014 OSCE Chair in Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter expressed his serious concern at on-going developments in Crimea and announced a visit by his Personal Envoy Tim Guldimann and OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors within the coming days. Members of the regional parliament in Crimea agreed on the 27 February 2014 to hold a referendum on the status of Crimea on 25 May 2014 - the day also earmarked for Ukrainian presidential elections. RIA Novosti reported on the 28 February 2014 that lawmakers in Russia introduced a bill in parliament that day to simplify the absorption of new territories into the country in what would be widely interpreted as a signal that Moscow might be planning to gain control over Ukraine’s mainly ethnic Russian-populated region of Crimea. The legislation came as Russian troops reportedly blockaded an airport in the Crimean city of Sevastopol in what Ukraine’s acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, described as an armed invasion. Euronews and other news sources reported on the 1 March 2014 that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to deploy the country’s armed forces in Crimea to protect Russian interests was passed by a unanimous vote in Russia’s upper house of parliament. US President Barack Obama had said on the 28 February 2014 that 'any violation of Ukraine sovereignty... would be deeply destabilising'. He warned of the 'costs' of any Russian intervention in the Ukraine and commended the interim government in Kiev for its 'restraint'. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, Catherine Ashton, issued a statement on the 1 March 2014: 'I deplore today's decision by Russia on the use of armed forces in Ukraine. This is an unwarranted escalation of tensions. I therefore call upon the Russian Federation not to dispatch such troops, but to promote its views through peaceful means'. Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on the 1 March 2014 that European states needed to “gather quickly” to formulate a joint position on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen convened a meeting of the North Atlantic Council on the 2 March 2014. Mr Rasmussen said 'What Russia is doing now in Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations Charter. It threatens peace and security in Europe. Russia must stop its military activities and its threats'. The BBC and other news sources reported on the 2 March 2014 that Ukraine had ordered a full military mobilisation in response to Russia's build-up of its forces in Crimea. In the meantime, the Ukrainian is still subject of concern to the international markets, with the German government stating on the 28 February 2014 that the IMF should play a central role in the planned financial rescue. |
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| Source Link | http://www.euractiv.com/europes-east/crimea-hot-spot-russia-ukraine-t-news-533833 |
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| Countries / Regions | Russia, Ukraine |
