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What the EU's Crimea bridge sanctions signalled
Summary
A look back at the sanctions and court rulings reported in the days around 1 August 2018, across Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.
What did the final days of July 2018 reveal about the region's direction? On 1 August 2018, the news that stood out came from the preceding days: a sanctions decision in Brussels, a language ruling in southern Ukraine and a cannabis ruling in Tbilisi.
Sanctions over the Crimea bridge
On 31 July 2018, the European Union imposed sanctions on six Russian companies involved in building the bridge that links mainland Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula. The measure fell within Russia–European Union relations and targeted the firms involved in the construction, rather than the project in the abstract.
The peninsula was invaded and occupied by Russia in February and March 2014, then annexed after a referendum that has been called illegitimate. That took place amid the uncertainty that followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity. The bridge sanctions therefore tied directly to the status of territory Ukraine considers its own.
A language ruling in Mykolaiv region
Also on 31 July 2018, a court decision stripped the Russian language of its regional status in Mykolaiv region. The ruling concerned the legal standing of a language in one Ukrainian region, and it was reported on the same day as the sanctions decision.
Georgia's cannabis ruling
On 30 July 2018, the Constitutional Court of Georgia legalised cannabis for recreational use, following a campaign led by the politician Zurab Japaridze. Georgia became the first former Soviet republic to legalise the drug fully. Cannabis had also been decriminalised in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia.
A reading of the moment
The three items were unrelated in subject, yet they showed institutions in the region making consequential decisions in the same few days: a bloc of states penalising companies tied to Crimea, a court redefining a language's place in a Ukrainian region, and a constitutional court reshaping drug policy in the South Caucasus. Looking back, the sanctions item was the one linked to the longer conflict that began with the 2014 annexation.
