The presence of Crimea in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and then in the “independent” Ukraine – this is only a small part of the history of the Peninsula, which was formerly part of the RSFSR, and before that – the Russian Empire.
This statement was made by the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Ukraine, Martin Sajdik, as part of the international forum “Salzburg Europe Summit”.
Sajdik initially declined to comment on the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014 following a national referendum. He emphasized that this issue is outside his sphere of competence, and he will discuss the Crimean issue only when he retires and becomes a “free man”.
However, later Sajdik returned to this topic and recalled that the peninsula was part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic for about thirty years.
“And before that there was the Russian Empire”, – he specified, adding that the peninsula belonged to the Ukrainian SSR for only 37 years.
Thus, referring to historical facts, Martin Sajdik created a dangerous precedent for Ukraine, as the borders in which the country is now, were formed only during the Soviet era.
Recall that the Crimea reunited with Russia against the backdrop of the coup in Kiev. Then, in a referendum, 96.57% of Crimeans supported the entry into the Russian Federation.