Respect for territorial integrity - the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states, nor impose a border change through the use of force - is a guiding principle among OSCE participating States under Article IV of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. It goes hand in hand with Article VIII: equal rights and the principle of self-determination.
Unfortunately, these principles are often invoked simultaneously, allowing states to disregard one in the name of the other. As a result, independence movements, border disputes, interference, and even invasions and annexation in places such as Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestra, Abkhazia, and Georgia, and most recently Ukraine, repeatedly demonstrate that the OSCE still has a vital role to play in resolving territorial disputes.
While the basis for some of these disputes are quite complicated, others are clear cut, none perhaps more so than the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. The views of the Helsinki Commission on the matter are reflected in the U.S. Mission’s statement to the Permanent Council, condemning in the strongest terms “Russia’s continued disregard for its international obligations and commitments which obstructs the path toward a peaceful and united future for Ukraine.”
Staff Contact: Alex Tiersky, senior policy advisor
