Although the head of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea has stated that the international community would recognize Crimea when US President Barack Obama left office, the US Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the “Crimea Annexation Non-Recognition Act” Friday with a unanimous vote.
The act is modeled on a similar non-recognition policy that was enacted to deal with the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, and is based on the Stimson Doctrine, which holds that the US will never recognize any territorial changes that have been achieved solely by force.
Bill HR 5121, the “Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act,” was drafted by Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), and prohibits any recognition by the US government in law or practice of any sovereignty over Crimea by Russia, including airspace and territorial waters.
It also requires that “no Federal department or agency may take any action or extend any assistance that recognizes or implies recognition of the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, its airspace, or its territorial waters.”
The bill provides for presidential oversight, although in special circumstances. The waiver included in the bill reads, “The President may waive [the above legislation] if the President determines that it is vital to the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
The head of the Russian occupation, Sergey Aksyonov, while claiming that the international community would come to recognize Crimea as legally Russia’s, also stated that “all of the anti-Russian policy of the last two or three years” would disappear with the end of Obama’s term.
Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind), who brought the bill to the Senate in April, wrote that the bill would “ensure that the United States does not recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea nor take any action that would imply such recognition. A policy of non-recognition will communicate the seriousness of this situation and help reassure our allies and friends precariously placed on Russia’s borders that Putin must stop his aggression.
“My proposal would also prohibit the United States from financing or guaranteeing investments in Crimea with Russia as an intermediary and restrict foreign aid to countries that recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea,” wrote Coats.
By James Haleavy
Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent by the House Foreign Affairs Committee is a far cry from the House passing this legislation.