THE LEGAL CAMOUFLAGE OF THE ILLEGAL AND ILLEGITIMATE ANNEXATION OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA (2014)

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the situation that happened in 2014 when the Russian Federation illegally and illegitimately annexed the Crimean Peninsula, proving that in the 21st century the annexation of a part of a democratic state (belonging to a mostly democratic international community) is possible. Claiming its destabilizing actions in the form of "requested aid", the Russian Federation tried to find countless justifications for the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by creating an interventionist annexation precedent. The research methodology of the article aims at a longitudinal study regarding the justifications that the Russian Federation tried to provide for the illegal and illegitimate annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, with the main method being the documentary analysis based on the specialized literature. The most important two questions of the paper are: „what were the justifications offered by Moscow in favour of the annexation” and „did the legal camouflage that Moscow gave to the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea lead to international recognition?” The attempt to answer these two questions offers the opportunity to analyse the tricks (especially legislative) that the Russian Federation will use on the international level regarding the annexation of Crimea.