February 20, 2015

Russian lawmaker on Crimea’s transfer 

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MOSCOW – The head of the Russian Federation Council says legislation will be adopted during the spring that retroactively proclaims the Soviet Union’s 1954 transfer of Crimea to Ukraine as “legally void and nonbinding” from the moment the transfer was enacted. Valentina Matviyenko told reporters on February 4 that draft legislation on the issue was currently being studied by experts. Ms. Matviyenko said that if the law was passed, it would not have “any legal consequences.” She said the legislation would be a “historical document for future generations” aimed at showing that the transfer in 1954 was “an injustice committed against Crimea and Sevastopol.” In December 2014, Ms. Matviyenko said Russian legal analysts determined the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was “unlawful” because it violated the Constitution and legal procedures of the time. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after deploying Russian troops across the peninsula and quickly conducting an independence referendum that has been condemned around the world as a violation of Ukrainian and international law. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and Interfax)

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