Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea

Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea
Created	March 11, 2014 (adopted)
Author(s)	Supreme Council of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council
Purpose	Unification of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as a single entity, independent from Ukraine Referendum on the status of Crimea

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.

Translated copy

The document reads as follows:

Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol:

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.

2. Republic of Crimea will be a democratic, laic and multinational state, with an obligation to maintain peace, international and intersectarian consent in its territory.

3. If the referendum brings the respective results, Republic of Crimea as an independent and sovereign state will turn to the Russian Federation with the proposition to accept the Republic of Crimea on the basis of a respective interstate treaty into the Russian Federation as a new constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Declaration approved by the Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea at the extraordinary plenary session on March 11, 2014 (signed by the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov) and by the Decision of the Sevastopol City Council at the extraordinary plenary session on March 11, 2014 (signed by the Chairman of the Sevastopol city council Yury Doynikov).

International recognition

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation stated that the decision of Crimean parliament on adopting the declaration of independence is totally lawful.

The Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan said on March 20 that it recognized the result of the Crimean referendum. “The results of the referendum in Crimea reflect the views of the region’s absolute majority, and this is reality,” the ministry said in a statement.