Crimea 1.5 million voters are being called upon to take part in a vote to determine their future.<br /><br />A referendum, instigated by Crimea’s pro-Moscow regional government, will be held on Sunday, March 16.<br /><br />The vote is opposed by Ukraine and the US, while Russia says it will respect the results.<br /><br />Referendum questions<br /><br />“Are you in favour of unifying Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?”<br /><br />“Are you in favour of restoring the 1992 constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?”<br /><br />The second question is somewhat contradictory because the 1992 constitution, adopted after the collapse of the USSR and quickly abandoned, provided for Crimea as an independent state.<br /><br />Time for change?<br /><br />Crimea today is an autonomous republic of Ukraine. It has its own regional parliament and government, but major decisions must be approved by the national government in Kyiv.<br /><br />Ethnic Russians make up the majority of Crimea’s population.<br /><br />The regional government has little doubt about the outcome of the referendum, describing it as a “confirmation” of plans to break away from Ukraine. <br /><br />While pro-Moscow posters line the streets of Crimea’s regional capital Simferopol, there has been no large-scale “no” campaign in the lead-up to the vote.<br /><br />The peninsula is not uniformly in favour of joining Russia. Crimea’s Tatar community are among those strongly opposed to being ruled by the Kremlin.
