Interview by Vladimir Nesterov. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
One of the main results of 2014 was the reunion of Russia and Crimea. Today we will discuss Sevastopol and Crimea. First of all, I would like to ask you about the status of Crimea. At the moment the Federation Council is developing an act which recognizes the passing of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 as having been illegal. The document will be considered in spring. According to senators, it will reconstruct historic justice, as the passing of the peninsula contradicted the USSR Constitution. Olga Timofeyeva, a member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, a representative of the legislative authority of Sevastopol, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the draft and the situation over Crimea.
- Crimea has been officially included in Russia for almost a year. Why has the draft appeared recently?
- In 1993 the question was raised when the parliament of Crimea addressed the Supreme Court of the RF to reconsider the status, reconsider all the documents, according to which Crimea was included into Ukraine and turned out to be inside the independent Ukraine after the dissolution of the USSR.
Why did we start the process a year on? I think it is connected with the aggression, the reasonless aggression of our Western partners, who try to make a fetish or token money from Crimea. They started bargaining, launching new sanctions. They ignore the right of any nation to self-determination.
The referendum in Crimea and Sevastopol was an address to people who were not asked in 1954 where they wanted to live.
I talked to a person who represented the Komsomol core group of Sevastopol in 1954. They were gathered and told that Crimea would be included into Ukraine. There was a pause, and then the audience began to shout and stamp. The First Secretary of the Crimean Regional Committee said: “You are the best representatives of young people. That’s how you consider the party’s policy, don’t you? You should explain to people that it is reasonable, necessary, as it is a decision by the Politibureau!”
There are international norms which state that people who settle on a territory have a right to determine their fate. It means it's not the territory that determines people’s fates, but people determine their lives and fates on the territories where they live.
And the right was implemented in March, it was a reconstruction of historical justice. People got the right to vote. And now Crimea is a part of Russia. Sevastopol has come back home. The city was founded by a Russian Empress to protect the southern borders. Now it fulfils its main functions.
- Is there public support for uniting with Russia and Moscow’s course in Crimea?
- We couldn’t do anything without the support. Of course, there are opponents. Let’s be honest, some of them are a fifth column which exists and has its own goals and task. They try to use any problems for destabilization of the situation.
But the residents of the city believe and understand that it is very difficult to reconstruct such a big thing as an economy in a short time. It is difficult to change the whole system. Moreover, we have problems with water and electricity power supplies. But in September Sevastopol residents responded to all the challenges. We had a billboard: “What is next? Let there be stones from the sky, we are in Russia.” The position of our people is unchangeable. When you return home, your goal is to be integrated into the industrial system of the country to become a sponsor and be useful for your country. This is the main task for Sevastopol residents. Our vector cannot be changed. We are at home, we are in Russia.
- Are there projects which are fulfilled by Crimea and the North Caucasus republics or the South Caucasus countries?
- We have many plans. There are projects on the recreational opportunities of Crimea and Sevastopol. Crimea used to be called the all-Union health resort. We have unique climatic conditions. Our climate is dry, even though we are situated by the sea. Unlike the subtropical zone, we don't have the humidity typical for the whole Caucasus region. Lung troubles are treated here effectively. Let’s remember Chekhov, who went to Crimea for medical reasons, for health recovery. Another intensive direction is reconstruction of fish production. We could export our products to the whole south of Russia. However, our industry was destroyed by 23 years in independent Ukraine. We should find investors and raise from the ground level. And we have such offers.
Historic and patriotic tourism, working with young people and pupils are close topics for us. We should open our big homeland, our Russia, to pupils, so that our homeland won’t be separated ever again, hatred, mistrust and evil won’t be spread, so that we would be united and support each other. We are united, we are one country. And it cannot be different.
In 2009 a cartoon “New Year Stories” was produced in Sevastopol. It tells about our residents who celebrated New Year's Eve. The cartoon ends with a firework which starts in Sevastopol, rises over Crimea, and then we see the whole big Russia. This is the New Year's Eve celebration. Now we will live in this moment – the first New Year's Eve in Russia. For us, 2015, its upcoming, is the fulfillment of a dream, when you have spent a lot of time achieving the goal, when there is understanding – I am a citizen of Russia, a great multinational country which is able to achieve any successes. It is hard won for us and for the Caucasus. We feel it under our skin. It is impossible to betray, leave, reject.
