Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea
| Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea | |
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| Created | March 11, 2014 (adopted) |
| Author(s) | Supreme Council of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council |
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The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Crimea was a joint resolution adopted on March 11, 2014 by the Supreme Council of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council where they expressed their intention to self-declare themselves independent in the event of a Yes vote in a referendum to join the region to Russia, that was to be held on March 16. The participants were at the time subnational divisions of Ukraine but expected to reunify as the Republic of Crimea and then declare their independence as a single and united sovereign state apart from Ukraine, should voters have approved joining Russia in the referendum The document explicitly cited the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo and the ICJ opinion on that case as a precedent for the action.
The document reads as follows:
We, the members of the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council, with regard to the charter of the United Nations and a whole range of other international documents and taking into consideration the confirmation of the status of Kosovo by the United Nations International Court of Justice on July 22, 2010, which says that unilateral declaration of independence by a part of the country does not violate any international norms, make this decision jointly:
1. If a decision to become part of Russia is made at the referendum of the March 16, 2014, Crimea including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol will be announced an independent and sovereign state with a republican order.
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