Metro Herald, Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Page 1

tuesday, March 18, 2014

i’ve scar-jo under my skin

BOD complex

Where to now after O’Driscoll?

»p20

‘Privacy alien to celebs like me’ »p13

Purge fears for crimea

UKRAINE has warned of the possibility of ethnic cleansing in Crimea as Russia moves to tighten its grip on the province following Sunday’s disputed referendum, in which 95 per cent of voters said yes to joining Russia. Broadcasts of Ukrainian TV had already been replaced with Russian state television before the vote. Since then it has been reported Ukrainian street names have been changed to Russian, state property and financial assets have been nationalised, the Russian rouble has replaced the Ukrainian hryvnia and Crimea has said it intends to change from eastern Europe time to Moscow time. Ukraine’s biggest bank froze accounts of Crimean customers and the Crimean parliament has invited Ukrainian soldiers in the province to join Russia’s army. Yesterday, presidential candidate Vitali Klitschko claimed Crimea is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis. ‘The Ukrainian citizens there are left to the mercy of the

by dominic yeatman

foreign occupiers and local criminals. There’s also a risk of ethnic cleansing’, the former boxing champion added. The EU and the US have imposed sanctions, including travel bans and an asset freeze, on 29 of the Kremlin’s key players, including former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and Russian deputy prime minister Dmitri Rogozin, in retaliation. The White House said the sanctions sent ‘a strong message to the Russian government that there are consequences for their actions supporting the illegal referendum for Crimean separation’. Elsewhere, France risks losing the most from the sanctions. About €35.9billion of loans to Moscow come from French banks – about a fifth of all foreign investment in Russia, claims the Bank for International Settlements. Britain has said the EU is looking to reduce need for Russian energy after the Crimea vote.

TOP OF THE MORNING: St Patrick’s Day celebrants get a good view of the parade from the O’Connell statue as the world went green yesterday PICTURE: Pa PAGE 3

Keep Dublin tidy – Please recycle this Metro Herald when you are finished with it

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