Search: transnistria

...to passport-carrying foreign residents at the hands of their government, state media broadcasts relentlessly about the right and obligation of the Russian state to intervene to protect its nominal citizens. Then, having directly or through proxies conquered territory, it sets conditions by which residents of conquered territory can acquire Russian citizenship en masse. The fate of the population of passport-holders then serves as justification for renewed aggression. Passportization has bracketed Russian intervention in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Crimea, and Donbass. Indeed, though it does not name it as such, Russia...

...not to recognize such a secession. Law can provide a framework for thinking through the issues (as in this case), but at the end of the day political will is crucial for whichever result is sought. Kosovo seems to have lined up impressive political backing. But the wildcard is still Russia. If Kosovo declares independence and is supported by the EU, the U.S., and other states, will Russia uncertake countermoves in Abkhazia, Transnistria, or other separatist regions that it supports? Will the threatened ICJ case become a reality? Stay tuned…...

...the G-8 presents an opportunity to address the seemingly intractable “frozen conflicts” in various post Soviet countries. The separatist problems in Moldova and Georgia, and the long-term conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan have led to instability in the region between Russia and the ever-expanding European Union. Russia has made it clear that it is not interested in putting these conflicts on the agenda. (I have spent some time working on the international issues around the Moldovan conflict, which concerns the attempted secession of Transnistria, a strip of territory in eastern...

...is not just legalese; it is pragmatic. Extending the defintion of the term “people” to allow broader self-defintion could make it difficult to distinguish between cases of secession ranging from Finland (an ethnically homogenous nation) to Kosovo (an ethnically homogenous enclave, though not necessarily a nation) to Transnistria (a mutli-ethnic territory that its leaders claim to be “like-minded”). The classic defintion of “people” only encompasses secession of the first type of case. I query whether it is changing to include the second type. (And even this might be a stretch,...

Chris Borgen Roger: And an added irony is that Iran's game today against Mexico is in Nuremburg. I don't know if Nuremburg would be a venue if Iran makes it to the Round of 16, though. I have been writing on the "frozen conflicts" in the former Sovet Union and there is at least one soccer-related story there. Moldova is embroiled in a separatist conflict in which a region of the country, Transnistria, has been trying to form its own state. Due to various illicit activities the Transnistrian separatist leaders...

...and Transnistria and the Central Asian Republics and human rights litigation in India and any number of topics. Rather than asking us to stop talking about one set of issues (the U.S. and international law), which I think is not helpful, I challenge you and all the readers of this blog to take part in the conversation (as many of you already do). Give us suggestions, point things out to us. As always, we will do our best to provide an ongoing discussion of the issues of the day and...

...the Bolivian state. Contrast this with Kosovo, which was internationalized due to a humanitarian crisis (and a controversial NATO intervention and subsequent international occupation) or with the situation in Moldova, where Transnistria is seeking state recognition (thus bringing international law into play) and the Russians have refused to remove their troops from Moldovan soil (implicating the now-denounced Conventional Forces Europe treaty as well as various norms of international law). This leads me to think that the situation in Bolivia as described by the CNN report is, for the time being...

...you point out, that the Serbian government conducted a systematic campaign of persecution against the Kosovo Albanians, while no such campaign existed in the case of South Ossetia (or, at least, its existence has not been confirmed by a reasonably objective and impartial neutral party). As we've discussed in regard of Kosovo, if you believe that a right of remedial secession or external self-determination exists in cases of mass human rights violations, the case of Kosovo could be distinguished from South Ossetia, Abkhazia or Transnistria. But, again as we've discussed...

...today, such as the EU, one state (Turkey) has carved territory out of another (Cyprus). In theory, if Greek and Greek-Cypriat objections could be overcome, a global recognition of Turkish Cyprus would otherwise be unobjectionable. Further, Russsian troop-occupied Moldova. This territory, Transnistria, exists within a globally recognized state, exists as a result of force or the threat of force, and probably could never survive independently of Russia. It might be said to be a 'slow motion' version of the acquisition (or retention) of territory by force that is not yet...

Peter Ken: Your forgetting about the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta which maintains it's sovereignty even though it is religious in nature. Sovereignty does not require one to actually have a country/territory though it helps, then again Palestinians have a country though don’t have sovereignty and Taiwan/Kosovo/Transnistria have both a country and sovereignty but can’t vote in the U.N. Compared to these guys the Vatican has a strong case to claim sovereignty having a country, a vote, and historic independence. Martin...

...may still be a consideration) than just doing something that they think is right, or at the very least, not illegal. Contrast this with the the continuing nonrecognition of the Georgian breakaways, Northern Cyprus, Transnistria, etc. Guido: An interesting point, although I think it is dealing with a slightly different question. I belive that you are correct that the issue of international responsibility is different than that of recognifition. De facto regimes and insurgencies, for instance, are responible for respecting human rights within their areas of effective control. However, this...

...territory of Transnistria, discussed previously by Chris Borgen. Creation of states always depended on such considerations, and international law certainly is there, but is far from mandating a specific outcome. There was once no state of Eritrea, but now there it is, and the law has little to with it. In that regard, any weeping over Serbia’s fate is inappropriate. It abused its sovereignty, and will now suffer the consequences. And, I say this as a Serb, Serbia deserves whatever it gets, and its people, elites and political class have...