Quote:
Originally Posted by Pointman
BBC article got it right if you read the actual article. Options were to join Russia or to get a greater autonomy WITHIN Ukraine.
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Again this is a deceptive vote as there is no choice for NO change. There is no difference between the 1992 constitution of Ukraine and the current one on articles concerning Crimea in Chapter X of the Ukrainian constitution. Crimea is almost completely autonomous and already determines their own laws (if not contrary to Ukrainian laws). They already determine all laws that are to be executed within Crimea, they choose their own leaders, property rules, resource, agriculture, forestry, land, tourism, roadworks, fishing, wildlife, health care, budgeting, language use, etc. The only things they did not have control over were their foreign policy, environmental laws, tax law, recognizing the Ukrainian leader as the figure head of Crimea, normative subservience to not contradict Ukrainian law/criminal courts and having to go through Ukrainian constitutional courts for changes towards their own constitutionality as per articles 137. Any changes for greater autonomy would have defacto made them an independent state not bound to Ukrainian authority. Independent country that is Ukrainian in name only.
Basically the vote was designed to have no other choice but to keep that naval base at Sevastopol regardless of Ukrainian central authority wishes.