This article is part of a series on the politics and government of |
Crimea |
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Autonomous Republic of Crimea (within Ukraine, 1991–present) |
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Republic of Crimea (territory occupied by Russia 2014–present) |
See also |
Political status of Crimea Politics of Russia • Politics of Ukraine |
A three-part referendum was held in Crimea on 27 March 1994 alongside regional and national elections. Voters were asked whether they were in favour of greater autonomy within Ukraine, whether residents should have dual Russian and Ukrainian citizenship, and whether presidential decrees should have the status of laws. All three proposals were approved. [1]
On 5 May 1992 the Crimean Supreme Council declared independence, dependent on a referendum that was planned for August. However, the Ukrainian Parliament ruled that the declaration was illegal, and gave the Supreme Council a deadline of 20 May to rescind it. Although the Supreme Council complied with the order on 22 May, the referendum was only postponed rather than cancelled. [1]
The referendum idea was resurrected in 1994 after Yuriy Meshkov was elected President of Crimea in January. Although the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk declared it illegal, it still went ahead [1] on 27 March. [2]
Are you for the restoration of the provision of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea of 6 May 1992 which determines the regulation of mutual relations between the Republic of Crimea and Ukraine on the basis of a Treaty of Agreements? [3]
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
For | 78.4 | |
Against | 21.6 | |
Invalid/blank votes | – | |
Total | 100 | |
Registered voters/turnout | ||
Source: Minorities at Risk Project |
Are you for the restoration of the provision of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea of 6 May 1992 that proclaimed the right of citizens of the Republic of Crimea to dual citizenship? [3]
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
For | 82.8 | |
Against | 17.2 | |
Invalid/blank votes | – | |
Total | 100 | |
Registered voters/turnout | ||
Source: Minorities at Risk Project |
Are you for conceding the force of laws to the edicts of the president of the Republic of Crimea on questions that are temporarily not regulated by legislation of the Republic of Crimea? [3]
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
For | 77.9 | |
Against | 22.1 | |
Invalid/blank votes | – | |
Total | 100 | |
Registered voters/turnout | ||
Source: Minorities at Risk Project |
The politics of Ukraine take place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic and a multi-party system. A Cabinet of Ministers exercises executive power. Legislative power is vested in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
The transfer of the Crimean oblast in the Soviet Union in 1954 was an administrative action of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet that transferred the government of Crimea from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.
The State Council of Crimea is the parliament of Russian administered Republic of Crimea. It claims to be a continuation of the 'Supreme Council of Crimea' following a vote by the Ukrainian parliament to dissolve the Supreme Council of Crimea. The Parliament is housed in the Parliament building in the centre of Simferopol.
The politics of Crimea today is that of the Republic of Crimea on one hand, and that of the federal city of Sevastopol on the other, within the context of the largely unrecognised annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014.
Yuri Aleksandrovich Meshkov was a Ukrainian politician and leader of the pro-Russian movement in Crimea. He served as the only President of Crimea from 1994 to 1995.
The Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the basic law of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a republic on the Crimean peninsula as part of Ukraine. The constitution establishes the republic's status and authority within Ukraine. It granted Crimea the right to draft a budget and manage its own property.
The Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, briefly SovMin, is the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a republic within southern Ukraine that is currently suspended due to Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula since February 27, 2014. The Council of Ministers derived its authority from the Constitution and laws of Ukraine and normative acts of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea which bring them into its competency.
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This article summarises referendum laws and practice in various countries.
The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea that was conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol after Russian forces seized control of Crimea.
A referendum on sovereignty was held in the Crimean Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR on 20 January 1991, two months before the 1991 All-Union referendum. Voters were asked whether they wanted to re-establish the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which had been abolished in 1945. The proposal was approved by 94% of voters.
The Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol was a joint resolution adopted on March 11, 2014 by the Supreme Council of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council that proclaimed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol a sovereign state — the Republic of Crimea. The decision was taken after unmarked Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean parliament.
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the relative power vacuum on the immediate aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and was the beginning act of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.
The Republic of Crimea is a federal subject of Russia, comprising most of the Crimean Peninsula, excluding Sevastopol. Its territory corresponds to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a subdivision of Ukraine. Russia occupied and annexed the peninsula in 2014, although the annexation remains internationally unrecognized.
The Crimean problem or the Crimean question is a dispute over the status of Crimea between Ukraine and Russia. The dispute began during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but did not escalate into a conflict until the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, when Russian special forces were deployed to occupy Crimea and took over its government buildings. The official results of an internationally unrecognized referendum held during the occupation indicated overwhelming support for Russian annexation. The Crimean parliament and the autonomous city of Sevastopol unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine to ideally form a country named Republic of Crimea. Russia then annexed the region and created two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. Ukraine and the majority of the international community continue to regard Crimea as occupied Ukrainian territory; a United Nations General Assembly resolution declared the referendum invalid and affirmed the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Despite international opinion however, the currency, tax, time zone and legal system are all operational under de facto Russian control. Ukraine has attempted to resolve the matter by filing litigation in multiple international criminal, environmental, political, and other courts.
The Head of the Republic of Crimea is the highest official and the head of the executive power of the Republic of Crimea; an internationally disputed federal subject of the Russian Federation located on the Crimean Peninsula.
The Republic of Crimea was the interim name of a polity on the Crimean peninsula between the dissolution of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1992 and the abolition of the Crimean Constitution by the Ukrainian Parliament in 1995. This period was one of conflict with the Ukrainian government over the levels of autonomy that Crimea enjoyed in relation to Ukraine and links between the ethnically Russian Crimea and the Russian Federation.
The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was a polity on the Crimean Peninsula within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic that was formed during the collapse of the Soviet Union and a year later was renamed the Republic of Crimea.
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence the majority ethnic Russian Crimean peninsula was reorganized as the Republic of Crimea, after a 1991 referendum with the Crimean authorities pushing for more independence from Ukraine and closer links with Russia. In 1995 the Republic was forcibly abolished by Ukraine with the Autonomous Republic of Crimea established firmly under Ukrainian authority. There were also intermittent tensions with Russia over the Soviet Fleet, although a 1997 treaty partitioned the Soviet Black Sea Fleet allowing Russia to continue basing its fleet in Sevastopol with the lease extended in 2010. Following the overthrow of the relatively pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
After a referendum on 20 January 1991, Crimea regained its status as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. As this was months before the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine on 24 August 1991 — by December 1991 internationally recognized — Crimea was at the time part of the Ukrainian SSR which was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union.