Territoriality,self‐determination and Crimea after Badinter

The Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia provided the basis of the post‐Cold War territorial settlements in Europe. These included democratization criteria for the recognition of the new states in central Europe and a new territorial concept that allowed the internal borders of federated states to serve as international borders. In the process, the commission endorsed cultural nationalism within fixed borders and encouraged a significant degree of political self‐determination. The commissioners also supported identity nationalism as a genuine aspiration, giving rise to ‘an interesting direction of thought’ concerning the interpretation and meaning of the self‐determination of peoples, and these provoked an enhanced understanding and protection of the rights of minorities. This was to provide a basis for the legitimacy claims not only of Bosnian Serbs and Kosovars, but also of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Crimea.