DISINFO: Russia has more rights to Ukraine than West Germany had to East Germany
SUMMARY
The (Ukrainian) territories that Russia has reclaimed had been lost due to political misunderstandings during historical upheavals, and their reintegration into the Russian Federation is no more ‘criminal’ than the reunification of Germany in 1990. At the time, it was explained that the logic of historical processes justified the reunification of the German nation. But, in reality, there was no ‘unification’ of Germany. No referendums were held, no common constitution was developed, no unified army or shared currency was created. East Germany was absorbed by its neighbouring state.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets justifying Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and some other regions in the east and south of Ukraine. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The comparison between Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories and the unification of Germany is completely incorrect. Russia launched aggression against Ukraine on 20 February 2014 when its troops invaded Crimea, staged an illegal referendum there and illegally annexed it. The United Nations did not recognise the annexation and the so-called referendum and adopted a resolution in March 2014 denouncing it and describing it as “having no validity”. Most countries did not recognise the illegal annexation either. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson Regions. The international community denounced Russia once again. All these actions were a blatant violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Germany’s reunification was conducted in accordance with diplomatic agreements, such as the Two Plus Four Agreement involving both Germanys and the Allied Powers (the US, the UK, France, and the USSR). It was recognised by the international community as a legitimate process. The process of German reunification was supported by the governments and populations of both East and West Germany. While no referendums were held, the democratic governments of both states agreed to the terms, and East Germans overwhelmingly supported reunification through elections.
East and West Germany, though divided by external forces after World War II, were two parts of the same nation, and their reunification was widely viewed as the restoration of a unified state. In contrast, Crimea has been internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, a sovereign state, since Ukraine gained independence in 1991. The annexation of Crimea involved the forcible redrawing of borders, making it fundamentally distinct from a reunification process.
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