The answer, judging by this WP- Europe article is, thing will change for the better. For the heck of a lot better!Definitely better then choking down the IMF reforms- already requiring pensions to be halvedLet's read on
Voters in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula make a choice Sunday: Stay with Ukraine or join with Russia. The pro-Russian faction promises that a vote for “the motherland” is a vote for a better life. Many on the pro-Ukraine side fear a return to Russian rule.How will life really change in Crimea if the referendum is approved? My colleagues Carol Morello and Pamela Constable in Crimea, Kathy Lally in Moscow, and Anne Gearan in Washington have been covering the news, and here’s what they’ve found out:
Let’s start with money matters. Who will pay the pensions of retirees who paid into the Ukrainian system?Voters are being told that Russia will assume the obligations for all pensions, with a big leap in benefits. For example, the average monthly pension in Russia is said to be about $270, almost double the $150 paid in the average Ukrainian’s monthly pension. And the retirement age will drop by five years, to 60 for men and 55 for women.
Retirement age at 60! And 55 for women?! In Canada you work till you drop dead. The 'democratic' government, just upped the retirement age to 67. For men and women both.
Will people working in government offices, schools and hospitals lose their jobs?Authorities have vowed that nobody who is doing satisfactory work will be fired, and most will get raises.
And what about schools? Schoolchildren are expected to get new history books with a more outsize section on Russian history and its version of events, such as World War II, which Russians and Crimeans refer to as the “Great Patriotic War.” Officials say that for the next year, at least, Crimeans will be allowed to enroll at Russian universities without taking an entrance exam. Next year, they will have to take the regular Russian enrollment exam.
Will everyone get Russian passports?Though details are still being ironed out, it is believed that all native Russian speakers — most people in the Crimea area — will be eligible for Russian passports. People whose choose to keep their Ukrainian passports won’t be forced to leave, but they won’t be able to vote in elections.
Will it be harder to travel outside of Crimea?That depends. The only commercial planes that regularly fly out of Crimea go to Moscow, Istanbul and Kiev, Ukraine’s capital. There’s a train that goes to Kiev. But if Ukraine and Crimea do not establish friendly relations, it will become much more difficult to get out of Crimea.
What will happen to the Ukrainian soldiers and sailors who are now stranded on military bases and ships surrounded by pro-Russia self-defense militias and Russian troops?They will be given a choice of switching over to either the new Crimean forces or the Russian armed forces. Those who stick with the Ukrainian military would have to leave for the mainland. Those who switch allegiance are being promised Russian military pensions — about $600 monthly, compared with $240 a month for the average Ukrainian military pension. They are being promised generous housing allowances, as well.
What about the United States? What’s its view of the referendum?
You can read that at the WP link above. But, what about the United States?To which I ask, why should the Crimeans concern themselves with the US?Or the EU? All the US/EU are offering the Crimean people is debt servitude/enslavement!Why on earth would they care how the US views their referendum? Lastly- Electricity and gas?
Ukrainians say it could take awhile — Crimeans say months, but it could be far longer — to hook Crimea up to the Russian grid, and if Ukraine cuts access some residents might lose power for awhile. But filling up cars will be cheaper, as Russian gasoline is about 60 percent of what it costs in Ukraine