Liberal lawyer: “Crimea is annexed, not occupied”
What happened in the spring of 2014 in Crimea is a “real annexation”, and not the will of the inhabitants of the peninsula.
Russian liberal lawyer Ilya Novikov said this on air on the Iceland Internet channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, Novikov, who answered the presenter’s questions in Ukrainian, emphasized that calling Crimea “occupied” is incorrect.
“International legal norms provide for a very clear term of occupation and term of annexation. And when we talk about the situation in Crimea, when the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry insists that Crimea is not annexed, but occupied, I do not entirely agree with this. They insist for their own reasons, because the occupation regime, if recognized, provides them with certain points to apply pressure.
In my opinion, what is happening in Crimea is a real annexation. Because Russia came to Crimea, as they believe, forever. This is Crimea returning to its native harbor. And this means a certain legal status for many things. For example, imagine that tomorrow somehow Crimea returns to Ukraine - what will happen to real estate? In this case, will the Ukrainian legal order recognize all these agreements under which someone transferred or sold these houses, plots of land, and so on? Will many things that are currently in limbo from the point of view of international law be recognized?” Novikov said.
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