MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Every country has the right to self-determination and the principle has to be applied in Crimea, as in Scotland and other places, British columnist Owen Jones told RIA Novosti.
"All referenda needs to be conducted in a free and impartial manner and obviously there has to be standards apply to make sure that people feel able to express their democratic will freely. That’s a universal point I make to all referenda. People need to feel not intimidated, feel free, making a decision based on their future without any sense of having it encroached upon them in any way," Jones said.
He said that despite the complexity of the situation in Ukraine, the choice of people in Crimea has to be respected.
"The situation in Ukraine is complicated, what is been missing is the plight Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and the shelling of their areas by Ukrainian government. Atrocities have been committed on both sides. But Ukraine has the right for national self-determination. And people within Ukraine also have the basic right to national self-determination. It is a universal principle, whether in Scotland, Spain, Russia… people have the right to express, decide their own future, their own destiny without having been infringed upon by internal or external powers," Jones said.
"There is probably little doubt that people in Crimea wanted unity with Russia and independence from Ukraine and that has to be respected. For me, everybody accepts now that Crimea has decided to join Russia. And although that referendum was not conducted in ideal circumstances- there are questions there- but everyone has the right to self-determination and the principle has to be applied there as in Scotland and anywhere," the journalist said.
Scotland prepares for a referendum that will decide whether it will stay withing the United Kingdom or become an independent state on Thursday. To Jones, the vote will not only decide on Scotland's status, but test UK's order as a whole.
"Regardless of the result, for me, it should be the death of the old constitutional order. Britain as currently constructed in not sustainable, as a constitutional set up, and whatever happens, we should become a federation, a federal country," he said, adding that the establishment is responsible for driving Scottish people in their desire to become independent.
"The issue has to be the country does or nearly split because of the actions of our establishment. I mean, Westminster, big business, media, institutions ... all bear responsibility to the situation that has happened," he said.
The move for independence in many of the world's regions brings people together, apart from those at the top, regardless their nationality, Jones said.
"We are all in these together apart from those on top, whether you are Russian, Scottish, or Spanish. Struggles [are seen] all over the world... We all fight for good wages, proper jobs, decent conditions, good public services, against cuts. They unite all of us regardless of borders. I want us to stay together. Capitalism is global and the response to capitalism has to be global as well," Jones said.
Crimea rejoined Russia in March following a referendum on the region’s status, with 96 percent of the voters being in favor of reunification. The West has refused to recognize the results of the vote calling it illegal, while Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech following the referendum stressed that it was held in full compliance with democratic procedures and international law.
If the majority of the people in Scotland vote for independence this week, it will secede from the United Kingdom on March 24, 2016.
