Andriy Kruglashov // Ukraine. At the so-called referendum of March 16th almost 97% of living, dead and unborn people in Crimea, of any ethnicity and nationality, voted for the unification of Crimea with Russia. The turnout was claimed to be over 83%, regardless of the fact that Crimean tatars (18% of population), as well as many Ukrainians ignored the referendum. The supervisors and observers present at referendum wore green and were armed. Even Putin’s allies, Lukashenko and Nazarbaev, refused to back up the show and sent no observers to Crimea.
Now, many Russians, thirsty for glory, are full of glee. Many in Crimea feel the same. I would probably be happy for them, if they were in the struggle for independence, like many people in the world. But, what they did has no precedent. Voting for simply making your land being occupied by another state looks like the situation, when your wife is forced to marry a terrorist that came to your home.
No surprise that many feel humiliated. Trapped. Helpless. I want to quote one lady from the city of Kerch – the nearest to Russia place. “Don’t let close people to say that Crimeans sold themselves, gave up or gave in. This is not true. Many of us perceive the current situation as a tragedy. As the destruction of all we believed in and lived by. Please, tell others about it. We are in the horrible trap. And we can not get out of it by ourselves”.
I wonder how Austrians felt in 1938 after Anschluss. It is difficult to talk. We did not do well for the last 20 years. But those, who called us brothers, used our vulnerability to steal. I feel robbed. But another thing makes me even more concerned: Putin’s words about the fifth column and national traitors.
Hanna Arendt wrote that totalitarianism emerges from 2 conditions: anti-semitism and imperialism. Both are mainstream in modern Russia. And most of my friends will happen to be those national traitors sooner or later. And maybe, many people in Europe in the close perspective. It means that we should stay strong. If we fall, Europe will follow.
