12 august 2024 # School Club

Administrative and Territorial Structure of the De-occupied Territories: the Status of Crimea

On 9 August, the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, together with the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, held the USPS Club "Administrative and Territorial Structure of the De-occupied Territories: the Status of Crimea".

Before the occupation, Crimea had the status of an autonomous republic within Ukraine. But what status should the peninsula acquire after de-occupation to avoid possible speculation and ensure the development of Crimea as one of the unique regions of the Ukrainian state? And what status should the peninsula acquire to accommodate the interests and rights of the Crimean Tatar people and ethnic Ukrainians on the peninsula? The School community discussed these issues with invited speakers during the USPS Club. The event was moderated by Olena Luneva, Advocacy Director of the ZMINA Human Rights Centre.

Tamila Tasheva, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Head of the National Office of the Crimean Platform and a 2021 USPS Alumna, stressed the importance of developing steps to restore state power in Crimea after de-occupation, which includes the resumption of the activities of state authorities, law enforcement agencies and other structures in the liberated territories.

When we talk about the role of the state in deciding the future of Crimea, it is necessary to communicate and consult with the representative bodies of the Crimean Tatar people or other indigenous peoples, and this is crucial. After the de-occupation, the first steps will be taken: stabilisation of the situation on the peninsula, and establishment of military administrations. We are also discussing what will happen next – a gradual transition from military to civil-military administrations. But there will come a period when we will also make decisions on the electoral process, and at that time we must be ready with our common vision of how we see Crimea in the future.

This shared vision should consider the fundamental rights of the indigenous people of Crimea on the peninsula. Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the III-IV and VIII convocations, spoke about this during the event.

For Crimean Tatars, the issue of effective participation in the life of Crimea is important. Speaking about the special status, we should focus not only on the status itself but also on the procedures and mechanisms for ensuring the fundamental rights of the indigenous people of Crimea on the peninsula. Crimea is the homeland of the Crimean Tatar people and an integral part of Ukraine.

In addition, decentralisation in Ukraine has been going on since 2014. Still, Crimea has remained outside the brackets of these changes, and therefore, after the de-occupation of Crimea, it will be necessary to go through this process. This was emphasised during the USPS Club by Vitaliy Bezgin, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative and Territorial Structure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development.

The status of Crimea should be viewed through the prism of decentralisation and the empowerment of indigenous peoples. It should be borne in mind that communities in Ukraine, while not having a special status of autonomy, have gained more democracy, freedom, and resources through the decentralisation reform than Crimea ever did.

But the most important thing in forming a vision of Crimea’s future is to focus not on form and name but on content: What exactly do we base different options on when we work out the peninsula’s future status? Arsen Zhumadilov, Head of the State Logistics Operator and a 2018 USPS Alumna, is convinced that democratic values should be the basis, as they are common to both Crimean Tatars and the definition of the Ukrainian state.

Crimean Tatars, the Ukrainian state and society should work together to develop a new vision of the status of Crimea after de-occupation. We may have many differences in details, but we share basic values: human-centredness and democracy. I am confident that we will be able to find common ground.

This Club’s event of the USPS Club was supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, which is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America. We would like to thank the PFRU, the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the ZMINA Human Rights Centre for the fruitful partnership and important discussions!