“State Duma members from Crimea will be doubly illegitimate”

This week, Ukraine and Russia went beyond the ongoing hybrid war to engage in an “electoral” confrontation. It is caused by Russia’s coming State Duma elections, which will be held on September 18 and are to include votes in Crimea and Sevastopol which were illegally annexed in February 2014. Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine stated that voting in the State Duma election would not be allowed on the premises of Russia’s diplomatic and consular offices in Ukraine, explaining this decision by Russia’s violations of international law in connection with holding elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Director of the MFA’s Policy and Communications Department Oleksii Makeiev said that Russia’s plans to hold votes in Crimea and Sevastopol were in breach of its international obligations. “Because of it, we cannot allow Russia to hold votes on the premises of its diplomatic and consular offices,” Makeiev stressed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin said while speaking on the Freedom of Speech TV talk show on September 11 that the Ukrainian side might suspend its membership in the PACE if it restores the Russian delegation’s powers despite the illegitimate nature of the Russian State Duma election in annexed Crimea.

“We will consider various options, up to stopping our participation in the PACE’s activities. Of course, I may not tell Ukrainian MPs what to do, it is their sovereign decision to make, but I would advise very radical steps,” Klimkin noted. Head of the Ukrainian parliament’s Permanent Delegation to the PACE Volodymyr Ariev confirmed their willingness to embark on such actions.

In his turn, chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis Refat Chubarov also stressed the need for declaring the new Duma illegitimate. “I know for sure that most Crimean Tatars will not come and take part in the so-called election. I know that many other Crimeans will not either. However, behavior of people who live there, in occupied Crimea, is not the real issue, because they live amid fear, discrimination, and constant pressure. The real and very different issue is how we, I mean the Ukrainian state, and our partners, Western countries and their leaders, will act. We ought to stand unanimous: the coming election, which will be partly conducted on Ukrainian soil and involve Ukrainian citizens, must be declared illegal, and the new Duma declared illegitimate by the entire world,” he said while speaking on the Freedom of Speech.

Let us recall that on September 8, the Verkhovna Rada called on international organizations and parliaments of foreign states not to recognize the results of the election to the State Duma in temporarily occupied Crimea. The appeal passed with 269 votes in favor.

As is generally known, the Russian delegation was sanctioned by the PACE in April 2014 over the annexation of Crimea. Russians have been banned from participating in election monitoring missions, serving as rapporteurs, and being appointed as representatives of the PACE to other bodies.

COMMENTARIES

Roland FREUDENSTEIN, Deputy Director, Wilfried Martens Center, Brussels:

“I think the EU should support Ukraine in PACE. I also think the four State Duma members from Crimea should be added to the sanctions list. But the sanctions against persons have just been prolonged, and I don’t think consensus is achievable on adding names to the list now. That would require a new consensual decision. What I can say with certainty is that there will be a boycott of these Duma members by the European Parliament and most of its groups.

“For the moment, there are no Russians in the PACE. So the issue will come up only for the spring session 2017 when they will probably be back. In the EPP Group in PACE, there is a clear majority against any recognition of Russian deputies from Crimea, but I don’t know about the other groups. No decision has been taken.”

Andreas UMLAND, German political scientist:

“Obviously, the major Western institutions will be reluctant to get even in contact with Russian State Duma MPs or other Russian Federation officials claiming to represent occupied Crimea. Apart from the international legal issues about the occupied Crimean peninsula, Russian national elections have been constantly ranked as unfair since the 2003/2004 elections cycle (and had had defects already before). Moreover, the political situation on occupied Crimea has since 2014 become distinctly repressive (especially against indigenous Crimean Tatars) making electoral competition even less democratic on the annexed peninsula than in the Russian Federation. The State Duma deputies from Crimea will thus be doubly illegitimate: they will have neither the legal nor the political rights to represent the population of Crimea.

“If Russia’s membership in PACE is restored, this could lead to an immediate problem in the operation of the new Russian delegation to the Council of Europe. Most likely PACE will not accept any delegates from Russia who claim to represent Crimea. All member states of PACE, except for Russia and Armenia (against) as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia (absent), condemned the annexation of Crimea in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 of March 27, 2014 entitled ‘Territorial integrity of Ukraine.’”