12 June! What does Russia celebrate on this day?
In the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR of 12 June 1990, in addition to promising statements about a multinational people, about social and cultural development, about a dignified life and about the free use of the native language, there is a very interesting point.
The declaration, under paragraph 4, establishes “the right of every people to self-determination in the national-state form they have chosen.” This, to a certain extent, means the right of a nation to freely determine its form of state structure, including the creation of an independent state or accession to an existing one, as well as the right to freedom in making decisions on all issues concerning its internal and external development. This right is based on the principles of international law. The Republic of Tatarstan took advantage of this right and independently decided its political destiny – a referendum was held on 21 March 1992, and the people of Tatarstan chose the path to becoming a subject of international law! The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR, adopted in 1990 by Moscow, created certain problems for the Republic of Tatarstan, since it contradicted Tatarstan’s attempts to establish the status of a sovereign state. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognised the provisions on the sovereignty of Tatarstan as inconsistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. This happened after the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, adopted in 1992, declared it a sovereign state.
How did it all unfold?! On 10 and 26 April 1990, the USSR Law “On the Fundamentals of Economic Relations of the USSR, of the Union and Autonomous Republics” and the USSR Law “On the Delimitation of Powers between the USSR and the Subjects of the Federation” were adopted, respectively, according to which the autonomous republics that were part of the union republics of the USSR were effectively equalized in status with the union republics in their relations with the leadership of the USSR, which, given the absence of state sovereignty in the RSFSR, created the risk of the RSFSR losing control over the autonomous republics that were part of it. During this period, the Republic of Tatarstan was actively trying to reformat itself from an Autonomous Republic into a union republic. But it was refused. Behind the facade of this outwardly democratic law, there was a very specific political calculation.
As a result, due to the “separation” of 16 (and then 20) autonomous republics from the RSFSR, Russia would have lost more than 51% of its territory with 20 million people and practically the entire volume of strategic resources, natural wealth and ready, well-functioning infrastructure. At the same time, the Soviet Union would have suffered an irreparable loss: after all, without a united Russia – the “backbone” – it would have collapsed instantly and, most importantly, without any prospects for the revival of a common state in the future!
To the great regret of the Republic of Tatarstan and its multinational people, the declaration of sovereignty of the RSFSR adopted by Moscow on 12 June 1990 became an important stage in the process of reforming the system of state power in the USSR and strengthening the territorial integrity of the RSFSR, and for a long time closed the possibility for Tatarstan to restore its statehood. All the reasons and attempts of Tatarstan to become an independent state were veiled by Moscow with the first agreement: “on the delimitation of jurisdiction and mutual delegation of powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan of 15 February 1994″, which was signed by the President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev, and the second agreement ‘on the delimitation of powers’ from 2007”, already approved only by federal law and signed solely by the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin. This was a significant political event, since the Republic of Tatarstan at the time of approval of the agreement with the federal centre did not have any political subjectivity in the eyes of Moscow, therefore, from Moscow, a “humiliating bone from the master’s shoulder” was condescendingly granted in the form of a “Round Table”, which was held within the walls of the republican parliament and was dedicated to the history of the creation of the agreement and its modern meaning!
Due to the policy of unification of regional legislation that began during Putin’s time, the Constitution of Tatarstan was repeatedly adjusted to the federal Constitution, which led to the fact that in 2023, the mention of the sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan was excluded from the preamble of the Constitution of Tatarstan.
Thus, today the Republic of Tatarstan is obliged to comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which was adopted by the Federal Centre on 12 December 1993, even though the Republic’s own Constitution was adopted on 6 November 1992, that is, before the Federal (Moscow) Constitution.
Today, Moscow continues to exert strong political and economic pressure on Tatarstan and deals significant blows to the symbols of national sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan, and the influence of federal security agencies, whose leaders are appointed by Moscow (FSB, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Russian Guard, Federal Penitentiary Service, Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Prosecutor’s Office) is constantly increasing, local collaborating authorities are becoming increasingly dependent on Moscow and are forced to show loyalty in all areas of state institutions.
Aida Abdrakhmanova – Vice President of the Anti-Imperial Block of Nations, member of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in Exile
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