The right side of history – Article by Stavri Kalopsidiotou, member of the Cyprus Problem Bureau and the Central Committee of AKEL, Dr. Public International Law

 

6 March 2022, newspaper “TA NEA”

The need for all of us to be on the right side of history is undeniably the obvious common denominator in the public statements made and in our private daily discussions. But what is this ‘right side of history’? If the analysis of history was to be summed up in just two words, it would be “condemnation-invasion”. It is undisputable that an invasion with the use of armed force constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations (Article 2(4)) and of mandatory international law, as well as that the events/facts do not substantiate a justification for the Russian attack as a form of lawful self-defence.

However, history cannot be summed up in two words and for that reason, apart from denouncing the Russian invasion, we must also denounce the earlier action of the Russian Federation in recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which constitutes a violation of the principles of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, as well as a backtrack from the Minsk Agreements. Without disregarding the fact that for years they had been undermined as a result of the systematic violation of human rights carried out in these regions by the Ukrainian government.

Given the universal recognition that Russia is responsible for the flagrant violation of international law and the international community’s demand for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian territories, it is the search for the direction to be given to history that will determine who is on the right side of it. Unfortunately, decisions and policies that seem to be favored by the EU and a number of states, as announced over the past few days by officials of the Union and as expressed in the relevant resolution of the European Parliament, in effect counter diplomacy and political dialogue, downgrading the peacekeeping role that they should have been playing and instead are investing in the escalation of the war conflict. The intention to send substantial military aid to Ukraine is indicative, as are the unprecedented increases in military expenditures.

On the contrary, in the face of the dramatic developments taking place in Ukraine, in the face of the human losses and material destruction, what should have been the central focus of the aspirations of the EU and the international community in general is dictating the need for an immediate ceasefire and a commitment – from the Ukrainian Government too – for a return and the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.

Putting into the equation the manifold and horrific consequences that the whole of humanity, and in particular the peoples of Europe, will suffer from the generalization of war, the right side of history is undoubtedly the defence of dialogue, the termination of the use of armed force and the peaceful settlement of disputes, as well as putting an end to the selective sensitivity and one-sided invoking of international law that undermine international legality, as in the case of Serbia, Iraq and Palestine.

The abandonment of the double standards policy pursued by “friends and partners” who permit Turkey to continue almost undisturbed to create partitionist fait accompli in Cyprus, to challenge the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus and Greece in their maritime space, to proceed with the illegal opening of the fenced off city of Varosha and to violate every principle of law and human rights should also be put into the equation too.

Without harboring any illusions about the course that history seems to be taking, it is the above that could put us on the right side of history.