The Ukrainian authorities have no grounds to declare their sovereign rights over the territory of Crimea or the population of the peninsula, believes the American international lawyer and former independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council Alfred-Maurice de Zayas.
„Ukraine has no rights over the inhabitants of Crimea. There are no historical ties. This Russian territory was transferred to Ukraine in 1955 by a decision of Khrushchev /b.r. Nikita Khrushchev - then First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the USSR/, who made an administrative decision, not a decision on sovereignty“, he wrote on the social network X.
According to De Zayas, the term "annexation" is not applicable to the case of Crimea. According to international law, annexation occurs only in the event of a hostile invasion followed by occupation, the expert emphasized.
"This did not happen in Crimea. The people held a referendum, the parliament declared independence and only then demanded unification with Russia", he said. "The situation with the peninsula is a matter of self-determination of the people of Crimea, the majority of whom are Russians".
The lawyer noted that "there is no doubt" about the will of the majority of Crimeans. "As for Donetsk and Lugansk, the UN should have organized a plebiscite there back in 1991," he added.