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Crimea Joins Russia: What About International Law?
The deadlock in the UN Security Council combined with Russia’s disregard for Western approval have the U.S. and its allies stymied
Back on March 4, American President Barack Obama talked about the crisis in Crimea: “There is a strong belief that Russia’s action is violating international law. I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but I don’t think that’s fooling anybody.”
On the basis of Obama’s words, one can assume international law to be nothing beyond a set of beliefs that are classified as acceptable or unacceptable, depending on which side of the spectrum one chooses to stand.
As a result, when Crimean voters decided to secede from Ukraine and unite with Russia, what role did international law play in the picture? Again, you cannot properly define something that is viewed as more a matter of ‘strong belief’ than that of ‘codified norms’, but the verdicts and opinions of the International Court of Justice are well worth discussing here.
The Examples of Kosovo and Northern Cyprus
Kosovo had unilaterally declared its independence in 2008. Two years later, in 2010, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated that unilateral declarations of independence were not prohibited under international law and as a result, Kosovo had every right to declare its independence.
However, citing the example of Northern Cyprus, the ICJ further added that such unilateral claims of sovereignty should not, by any means, be accompanied by unlawful use of force and/or violation of peace pacts. Therefore, the ICJ did not appreciate the Turkish Cypriots’ unilateral declaration of independence.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was formed in 1983 after Turkey’s armed intervention in Cyprus. Turkey justified its military actions by claiming that Turkish

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