Tag: annexation of Crimea

Hungary Helping Moscow Destabilize Ukraine From the West

March 5, 2015

Staunton, March 5 – Budapest has announced that it has handed out Hungarian citizenship papers to 94,000 people in Trans-Carpathia in Western Ukraine in expedited fashion. The Hungarian official responsible for nationality policy says that this is part of a broader effort to boost the size of the country’s population and points out that two-thirds […]

Countering Russian Lies is Easy; Countering Russian Propaganda Much Harder, Kirillova Says

February 23, 2015

Staunton, February 23 — Russian lies have been a constant feature of the Moscow media scene since the start of Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in other parts of Ukraine. Most of them have been so extreme that they call attention to themselves and are easy to show are false. But as Moscow’s […]

Putin’s ‘Conservative Revolutionaries’ Dreaming of National Socialist Utopia

February 1, 2015

Staunton, January 30 – The old left-right continuum in Russian politics with its differences between conservatives and reformers ceased to be relevant as the basis for analysis and understanding with Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea and the formation of a populist left-right alliance of support, according to Aleksandr Morozov. In a commentary in New Times, he […]

EU Will Not Recognize Crimean Anschluss ‘In This Millenium’

January 16, 2015

Staunton, January 15 – Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, commenting on Russia’s annexation of Crimea, says that “we will never accept the change of borders by force. Neither now nor in this century nor in this millennium.” But she adds that there should not be any limitson political dialogue with Moscow concerning the […]

Three Questions for Navalny about Russia’s Future

December 31, 2014

Staunton, December 31 – If as some are suggesting 2015 is going to be the year of Aleksey Navalny just as the past years have been those of Vladimir Putin, then it is extremely important that the opposition leader clearly state his positions lest Russians find in his case that they have given the power […]

Declaring 1953 Crimea Transfer Illegal Could Spark War Along Entire Periphery of Russia

Staunton, December 24 – A proposal by Valentina Matviyenko, the Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council, to declare the Soviet government’s 1954 transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR “illegal” could “lead to war not only between Ukraine and Russia but practically along the entire perimeter of the present-day Russian Federation,” according to […]

Ukraine Live Day 314: Protests Outside Rada

December 28, 2014

Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards our costs. View Ukraine: April, 2014 […]

Russia Experienced a Coup in 2014 Without a Change in Institutions, Rubtsov Says

December 27, 2014

Staunton, December 25 – Over the last year, Russia has experienced a coup “without a change of institutions, symbols or personnel,” being changed in even more significant ways than it was in the course of the “strong mutations of 2011-2013,” according to Aleksandr Rubtsov, the head of the Moscow Center for Research on Ideological Processes. […]

Putin Wants a ‘New Munich’ on Ukraine But May Not Get It, Butakov Says

December 9, 2014

Staunton, December 9 – The Munich Agreement between Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain, as some have forgotten, was a compromise between what the Nazi leader wanted and the status quo that the British wanted to protect in order to reduce tensions in Europe and achieve, in Chamberlain’s infamous words, “peace in our time.” According to […]

Microsoft’s Story Highlights Why West Needs a Formal Non-Recognition Policy on Crimea Now

December 5, 2014

Staunton, December 5 – Yesterday, Ukrainian and Russian media reported that Microsoft had implicitly recognized the Russian annexation of Crimea by requiring those using its products on the Ukrainian peninsula to apply for new licenses, a story that turned out to be false but that highlights the need for a formal non-recognition policy to clarify […]