Wealth behind stealth: New Eastern Europe

By Dilip -

‘New Eastern Europe’ dedicates its summer issue to Ukraine, including: Russia’s underhand colonization of the Crimean peninsula; the geopolitics of gas; and Odessa’s urban mismanagement. In March 2020 a large part of Crimea acquired the status of Russian border territory by presidential decree, making it illegal for ‘foreigners’ to own houses and plots of land on the peninsula. The decree is a prosecution of war by other means, aiming to put ‘the final nail in the coffin of Ukrainian Crimea’, writes Olena Yermakova in New Eastern Europe.

Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars are left with few alternatives: selling their land to Russian buyers; paying rent to an occupying state; re-registering their property in the name of a relative with Russian citizenship; or accepting a Russian passport. All options amount to surreptitious yet irreversible colonization: ‘The various options on the table almost succeed in creating the illusion of having a free choice,’ notes Yermakova....https://www.eurozine.com/wealth-behind-stealth/

Read the full piece in Eurozine


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