Paul Goble
Staunton, June 25 – Many of the
hopes that some Russians in Crimea had for their homeland after the Russian
Anschluss have not been realized, and as a result, both polls show and
occupation officials concede, “the majority of young Crimeans” regardless of nationality
“do not consider themselves to be patriots of Russia.”
In today’s “Novyye izvestiya,”
Aleksey Chaly, the chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol, is
quoted as saying that “the return of that city to Russia “has not turned out as
the majority of city residents expected … [The earlier] euphoria has quietly
disappeared’” (newizv.ru/politics/2015-06-25/222758-krymskoe-razocharovanie.html).
“People saw themselves as returning
to a Soviet Union with factories open. But these expectations have not proved
to be the case. The economic situation which exists in Sevastopol today is not
only unsatisfactory but there are no prospects for its development” because the
subsidies on which it exists cannot last long, Chaly says.
“This does not mean,” he says, “that
there are no chances for economic growth. It simply means that this will be a
somewhat different economy and a somewhat different life” than many who voted
for joining Russia expected on the basis of what Vladimir Putin promised and
Russian news outlets said.
Another occupation official,
Vladimir Bobkov, the head of the education and youth policy committee of
Crimea’s State Council, agrees. He says that according to the results of a
recent poll, “the overwhelming majority” of Crimean residents “view themselves
a patriots of Crimea and only a small part of them consider themselves to be
patriots of Russia.”
Consequently, he continued, the task ahead
is “to explain to young people in a systematic way that our fatherland is Great
Russia and also explain the role in that of the Republic of Crimea.” He said
nothing about addressing the fundamental problems of the region: inflation,
declining incomes, and difficulties with travel and visas.
Irina Khakamada, a Russian politician and
commentator, tells the Moscow paper that she is “certain that without a
determination of the status of Crimea and the resolution of ‘the Donbas
problem,’ live on the [Ukrainian] peninsula will not become better and
patriotism among the population will not arise.”
If these problems aren’t resolved, she
continues, the economic situation in Crimea will continue to deteriorate. “There
won’t be a miracle, the economy will not restore itself, and love for Russia
will not appear spontaneously among Crimeans.”
She suggests that Moscow seek to move forward by writing up a portion of
Ukraine’s debt to Russia.
Khakimada also suggests that Moscow must
move on two fronts to have any hope for a positive outcome. On the one hand, it
must seek American recognition of Russia’s annexation; and on the other, it
must secure international agreement that those fighting for it in the Donbas
will not be subject to criminal sanctions. If that doesn’t happen, they will
keep fighting.
Yury Krupnov of the Moscow Institute of
Demography, Migration and Regional Development agrees, but he says that what is
going wrong in Crimea now began in Russia itself “more than two decades ago,”
with the collapse of factories and the de-industrialization of the
economy. The transportation blockade of
Crimea only exacerbates these things: it is not a cause.
According to “Novyye izvestiya,” the
experts with which the paper spoke are unanimous “on one thing: patriotism
cannot long exist on propaganda and slogans alone.”
In a related development, Zaur Smirnov, head
of the Crimean committee on international relations and deportees, reports that
the number of Crimean Tatars still in Central Asia who want to return has
increased dramatically. But he admits, there has not yet been any actions on
their part to return, given difficulties on the peninsula (ria.ru/society/20150624/1085193039.html).
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