Do not forget the Crimean crisis: why Russia “Annexed” the Peninsula? A (pro-) Western-European perception

ABSTRACT

The 2014 Crimean referendum was not free and was orchestrated by Moscow. Whose inclusion of the peninsula was a geopolitical move to gain more power in the region, strengthen the Russian identity and prevent further European enlargement to the East. By invading Crimea, Russia affirmed its nationalistic credo to get influence in Europe. Putin wanted to weaken the EU and while accusing the EU’s expansionism, he never complained when some former Warsaw Pact’s countries entered the EU or NATO in the last years. Russia felt a necessity to show the muscles in Ukraine: Kyiv’s possible integration in the EU and NATO would be a terrible loss, from Putin’s perspective. Thus, Putin re-casted the US/EU as enemies. According to the liberal view, Crimea has been unjustly and illegally annexed: Putin acted as a realist, but despite the Crimean accident, the West should cooperate with Moscow in the many common challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• Crimea
• Russia
• Ukraine
• Crimean invasion
• Vladimir Putin

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Amedeo Gasparini

Amedeo Gasparini, class 1997, freelance journalist, managing “Blackstar”, amedeogasparini.com. MA in “International Relations” (Univerzita Karlova, Prague – Czech Republic); BSc in “Science of Communication” (Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano – Switzerland).