Russian Unity

Russian Unity
Ukrainian: Руська Єдність
Russian: Русское Единство
Chairman (last) Sergey Aksyonov
Founded 2008 (2008)
Dissolved 2014 (2014)
Merged into United Russia
Headquarters Str. Dolgorukovskaya, 11/2
Simferopol, Crimea
Youth wing "Russian Unity Youth"
(Молодые за Русское Единство)
Ideology Centrism
Russophilia
Greater Russia
International affiliation None
Colours           Blue, red
Website
russ-edin.org (inactive)

Russian Unity (Ukrainian: Руська Єдність, Russian: Русское Единство) was a political party in Crimea (banned in Ukraine since 2014), registered in October 2008.[1] On 30 April 2014 a Kiev Court banned the party "from activity on the territory of Ukraine".[2] Party leader Sergey Aksyonov was instrumental in making possible the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[2][3][4] Crimea is currently under dispute by Russia and Ukraine.[5] The party is based in Crimea, which has a Russian-speaking majority.

Although the party takes positions on a number of issues, the party's main focus was Russian language rights and promoting Ukrainian relations with Russia[6] before the 2014 Crimean Crisis, in which it became supportive of secession from Ukraine to join Russia; after this occurred, it merged into the Russian political party United Russia.

History

The party was founded in Simferopol under the original name Vanguard (Ukrainian: Авангард) and registered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice in October 2008.[1] In August 2010 they were renamed Russian Unity.[7] It won 3 seats (of the 100 in total) during the 2010 Crimean parliamentary election in the Supreme Council of Crimea.[8]

In the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party competed in/for 4 constituencies (seats), all of them located in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;[9] but it won in none and thus missed parliamentary representation.[10] The party's best result was in constituency 1 (located in Simferopol) with 9.12%.[9] In constituency 2 (also located in Simferopol) it scored 4.12%, in constituency 6 (in Feodosiya) 4.11% and in constituency 10 (in Bakhchysarai) 2.28%.[9]

In 2014 the party has been involved with protests and the seizure of government buildings, including the Supreme Council of Crimea (the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), during the 2014 Crimean crisis.[3] Party leader Sergey Aksyonov was named Prime Minister of Crimea on 27 February 2014, and then called for a referendum on Crimea’s autonomy.[3] On 11 March Crimea adopted a declaration of independence and held on 17 March the 2014 Crimean status referendum that lead to the 21 March 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[3][4][5]

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit at the District Administrative Court in Kiev for the ban of activities of the party (and also for a ban on the party Russian Bloc) on 23 April 2014.[11] On 30 April (2014) the Court banned the party "from activity on the territory of Ukraine".[2] The Court stated that the signing of Aksenov of the treaty that formally sealed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was evidence of "encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine".[2]

In August 2014 the party signed a cooperation agreement with Latvian Russian Union to "strengthen the unity of the Russian world, Latvian Russian Union is a Russian political party in Latvia.[12]

In late 2014, the party was dissolved by Sergey Aksyonov,[13] and finally merged in United Russia.

Party leaders

References

  1. 1 2 (Ukrainian) Політична партія "Руська Єдність", Database DATA
  2. 1 2 3 4 (Ukrainian) Court banned the party of Aksenov, Ukrayinska Pravda (2 April 2014)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Stay informed today and every day. "Russia and Ukraine: Edging closer to war". The Economist. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  4. 1 2 Putin signs order appointing Aksyonov interim head of Crimea, ITAR-TASS (15 April 2014)
  5. 1 2 Gutterman, Steve. "Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  6. ↑ (Russian) Программа политической партии «Русское Единство», Program of the Political Party "Russian Unity"
  7. 1 2 (Ukrainian) Партія “Авангард" змінила назву та лідера організації, «ОГО» (17-09-2010)
  8. ↑ (Ukrainian) Results of the elections, preliminary data, on interactive maps by Ukrayinska Pravda (November 8, 2010)
  9. 1 2 3 (Ukrainian) "Russian Unity" candidates, RBC Ukraine
  10. ↑ Party of Regions gets 185 seats in Ukrainian parliament, Batkivschyna 101 - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (12 November 2012)
  11. ↑ (Ukrainian) Justice asked the court to ban the party "Russian Block" and "Russian Unity", UNIAN (22 April 2014)
    Justice Ministry of Ukraine wants to ban two pro-Russian parties, Focus Information Agency (23 April 2014)
  12. ↑ http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/35355/#.VA97mRbgJHU
  13. ↑ "Запрещенная судом партия крымского премьера решила самораспуститься" (in Ukrainian). Sobytiya. May 5, 2014.
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