An unfitting parallel: The Russian annexation of Crimea and the idea of Greenland joining the United States

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original work: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Schwarzorangederivative work: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Phlsph7CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 

This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.

А Facebook posts spreads falsehoods regarding the referendum on Crimea’s succession from Ukraine and its annexation by Russia in 2014, drawing a parallel between that and Trump’s ideas to annex Greenland to the United States, which does not hold up for several reasons. Putin did not occupy Crimea by referendum, as the post claims, but by aggression, which Russian forces began at the end of February 2014. On the other hand, Trump has not occupied Greenland, nor has he made any clear announcement that he is going to do so–as the post says, meaning that there is no parallel with Crimea here. 

Facebook post says the following: 

Putin occupies Crimea with a referendum (93% in favor); He is a horrible dictator! Trump occupies Greenland by force, he is a great visionary?! 

Vladimir Putin did not occupy Crimea with a referendum, but by aggression, which Russian forces began at the end of February 2014. They took over several government and military facilities across Crimea, with no recognition marks, in order to falsely portray it as an uprising of the local population, however, Putin later admitted that those were his forces. 

On the peninsula, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), which was (and still is) part of Ukraine, was functioning under international law, but under the pressure of the Russian occupier, and by his measure, there was an “elected Prime Minister–Sergey Aksyonov. Before the occupation, his pro-Russian option did not receive many votes in the elections there, and he is not even a native of Crimea. 

The new leadership has shifted towards distancing itself from Ukraine and joining Russia, and for that purpose, on the 16th of March 2024, a so-called “referendum” was held, we say so-called, because voting under an occupation army cannot be free and legitimate. This “referendum” was rejected by the UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262. 

The “referendum” covered not only ARC, but also Sevastopol. Although it geographically belongs to Crimea, the city has a special status and is a separate administrative unit. The 93% number in the post is incorrect, and according to the organizers of the “referendum,” 96.57% of the voters reportedly voted for the inclusion of the peninsula in Russia. Specifically, in ARC it was 96.77 percent and 95.6 percent in Sevastopol. 

However, many did not take part in the “referendum,” and there was boycott among the Crimean Tatars, an indigenous group of the peninsula who were once the majority. They suffered after Crimea fell under Russian rule in 1783. And especially under Soviet Russia, which in 1944 deported them to remote parts of the USSR. Most Crimean Tatars stand for Ukraine. 

Their view was shared not only by many ethnic Ukrainians in Crimea, but also by Russians and individuals from other ethnic groups. It is a myth that most residents of the peninsula favored closer ties to MoscowThe majority supported Ukraine’s independence from the USSR in the 1991 referendum. (54.19 percent in the then autonomous Crimea and 57.07 percent in Sevastopol). 

The post then accuses of double standards. It says that Putin’s takeover of Crimea has been condemned, while Donald Trump’s takeover of Greenland has been approved and he is seen as a visionary for that idea, which is not the case. 

First, Trump has not occupied Greenland, nor is there a clear announcement that he will do so–as the post says, so there is no parallel here. Secondly, many have described Trump’s statements of Greenland joining the United States as harsh, undiplomaticharmful, and irresponsible, some have even dismissed them as madwhich shows that not everyone in the United States sees Trump as a visionary. There is no single-mindedness in the United States.  

Moreover, Trump’s general idea is to buy Greenland, not to occupy it. Indeed, when askeif the use of force would be considered for that purposeTrump replied that it was not excluded, but he did not specify anything, let alone say that they would take by storm. The idea of buying and having Greenland join the United States dates back to 1867 and was brought up again in 1946, and then once more in 2019, by Trump himself.  

He also made expansionist statements at the expense of Canada and Panama, but the question remains whether he can do soHe has long been known for his scandalous statements, but in regard to how realistic they are, that remains a big question. Former US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken did not take Trump’s statements on Greenland too seriously, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot gave a similar assessment. Their Danish colleague Lars Loke Rasmussen simply called for passions to settle down and added that there was no impression that an international crisis had begun here.  

Some believe that Trump is only “acting crazy” through the so-called Madman Theory. It is a political theory, according to which a politician deliberately threatens and sets maximalist demands in order to extort the opposite side to fulfill some more moderate demands. That was done by Richard Nixon, and whether this is the case with Trump–it is unclear. 

So far, we do not see Trump taking by storm, nor that there is unconditional support for such a thing. In the US Congress, some act was released under the name (“Make Greenland Great Again,”) with which Trump would be authorized to negotiate with Denmark for buying Greenlandhowever, it is no military action. 

The governments of Denmark and Greenland have told Trump that the island is not for sale and that its residents, which enjoy widespread autonomy within Denmark, should decide its future.  

There is no parallel between Crimea and Greenland, and according to the laws of Denmark, in which Greenland is located, it has the right to secession, which Crimea does not have in Ukraine. It is a question of Article 21 of the Act on Greenland Self-Government, adopted in 2009. Denmark has no issue with Greenlanders becoming independent. There are such ideas among them and even talks about holdinan appropriate referendum in April this year.  

Of course, some things may change in the future, there might be some surprises, but these are the facts we have for now.  

Taking all of this into account, we assess the post as untrue.  


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