Abstract

The unilateral secession of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and its annexation to the Russian Federation in March 2014 has to be placed in the historical and institutional context that characterizes the whole Central-Eastern Europe and that stands in a line of continuity with the widespread post-soviet autonomist and secessionist phenomenon. The article firstly focuses on the main historical elements related to the birth of the State-Nation in Central and Eastern Europe. In a second part the main elements of the Socialist Soviet Federation will be described as well as the legislative and constitutional initiatives and reforms operated by the central power in the years 1988-1991 (with a brief comparison with the dissolution of the Yugoslav and Czechoslovak Federations). The final part focuses on post-Soviet de-facto States and, ultimately, on the events that led to the secession of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.