Crimea, Sevastopol fully reintegrated into Russia's legal framework - Matviyenko
MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - The objective of reintegrating Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia's legal framework has been attained in a year, and the economic development of the new Russian regions comes to the foreground now, says Russian Federation Council Chair Valentina Matviyenko.
Speaking in an interview with Interfax, Matviyenko acknowledged that the year that has passed since Crimea's and Sevastopol's reunification with Russia has been difficult and tense.
"We had to make an unprecedented decision within a compressed amount of time to provide legal conditions for Crimea's and Sevastopol's full-scale integration into Russia's legal, economic, and financial framework. This process did not pass without problems, but nevertheless, looking back now, one could say confidently that the transition period is over, and everything that the federal authorities and lawmakers planned regarding the formation of the necessary legal basis has been done," she said.
The main objective now is to ensure Crimea's and Sevastopol's economic development and create the necessary infrastructure, she said.
"It is just as important to build a Kerch bridge. It is necessary to provide all conditions for Crimea's and Sevastopol's self-sufficient operation. It is necessary to stimulate the existing potential, in particular, to develop small and medium-sized businesses, which have very good prospects, especially in the tourism sector, including health tourism," she said.
"The federal authorities have the understanding as to how all this needs to be done, although this will take more than one year to accomplish, and what is more, this would require quite significant financial investments for this unique region to start working fully and stop being subsidized. There is every precondition for this," she said.
The past year has confirmed that Russia acted absolutely rightfully in reintegrating Crimea, Matviyenko said. "It was absolutely impossible then to leave the people to their own devices and let Crimea be turned into a warzone. Could have we really allowed the Right Sector's and the Ukrainian National Guard's armed squads to break into the Crimean State Council building and seize the authorities legitimately elected by the people?" she said.
If the events had developed this way, the legitimate Crimean authorities would have been subjected to reprisals, and this would have inevitably led to deaths of local civilians, Matviyenko said. "This would have been much more tragic than it happened in Odesa, where people were burned alive at the Trade Unions House, and it would have been at least just as bloodily as it is happening now in the southeastern part of Ukraine. Because the pro-Russian orientation of an absolute majority of the peninsula's population was obvious," she said.
"If we had not behaved the way we were ought to behave a year ago, Russia would have lost its dignity as an independent state," she said.
"We would have been absolutely humiliated, because our Black Sea Fleet would have simply been kicked out of there by force, and it is clear what all of us would have suffered then if, instead of the Russian fleet, the U.S.' and its NATO allies' fleets and flags had appeared in Crimea and Sevastopol. In moral and mental terms, this would have been a tragedy for all Russians," she said.
"All this talk about annexation and aggression is absolutely groundless, as all procedures were observed in line with the valid international legal norms. Such statements have been made out of irresponsibility, impotence, and a lack of clear legal arguments. Therefore, we have gotten accustomed to this over the past year," Matviyenko said.
The full version of Matviyenko's interview is available on www.interfax.ru.
