In its editorial, ‘The New York Times’ has opposed the current
situation in Crimea, particularly the Russian “illegal [use of force]
under international law”, to Catalonia, Scotland and Quebec, which “have
shown there are legitimate ways to raise” secession claims. The
editorial stresses that the most pressing issue is not “who owns Crimea”
but the Russian occupation and the current undemocratic secession
process from Ukraine.
The American newspaper emphasised that secession plans include next
Sunday's express “phony” referendum and a vote in Russia's Parliament
scheduled on the 21st March, whose “outcomes are
foreordained”. Furthermore it denounces the “non-existent "fascist"
threats to the Russian population” in Crimea and how regional and
Russian authorities are “refusing to recognize the interim government in
Kiev”.
Occupation was decided in the name of “a special bond” between Russia and Crimea
According to the American newspaper, the deployment of forces in
Crimea relies “on presumptions of special Russian privileges in its
former empire”, and was also conducted in the name of a “special bond”
shared between Russia and Ukraine: “Like many Russians, Mr. Putin
earnestly believes” in such a close connection, but he refuses to
acknowledge that “Ukraine can forge economic and social ties with the
West and still retain the indisputable historic and cultural kinship to
Russia”, states ‘The New York Times’.
Urging the international community to sanction Russia
The editorial has urged the international community, and particularly
the European Union, to react to Putin’s illegal deployment of force and
his actions to make Crimea a territory of the Russian Federation. “It
is time for Europe to join the United States in [threatening Russia]
with costly sanctions”, claims the newspaper, even though certain
countries, such as Germany, may be reluctant to do so for economic
reasons, adds the editorial article. “Financial sanctions against banks
would cut Russian corporations off from sorely needed foreign
borrowing”, suggests ‘The New York Times’, which also explains that the
USA have already started pressuring Russia, with NATO planes flying over
Romania and Poland, and the American destroyer dropping anchor in the
Black Sea.
“The sooner American and European leaders can demonstrate that they
are prepared to impose serious penalties — and to accept the resulting
sacrifices — the better the chance that those sanctions will not prove
necessary”, concludes the editorial.
