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Putin and East Timor
Russia could learn from Indonesia's grievous error in invading East Timor and claiming it as part of Indonesian territory until 1999, which the international community never recognized.
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A video of Russian President Vladimir Putin is projected on a screen at Moscow’s Red Square on Sept. 30, 2022 as he addresses a rally and concert marking the annexation of four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces: Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. (AFP/Alexander Nemenov)
I
ndonesia may need to share with Russia its bitter experience – and the hefty price it paid – when it invaded East Timor in 1975 and then declared the former Portuguese colony the country’s 27th province in 1978.
Indonesia acted like a colonial ruler, deploying thousands of troops to maintain its “territorial integrity”, which included East Timor, until the United Nations-backed referendum in 1999 resulted in an overwhelming vote for the territory’s independence.
Stubbornly insisting on annexing the territories of other countries as it pleases risks Russia repeating Indonesia’s mistake in East Timor.
There are similarities between Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor and Russia’s unilateral annexation of Ukrainian territories, though there are also many big differences in terms of our histories and international recognition.
At the time of the Indonesian “incursion”, East Timor was facing a power vacuum after the Portuguese colonial rulers abandoned it in response to the domestic situation. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops in February to invade Ukraine, a sovereign state, without provocation from Kyiv.
When Indonesia launched its military operation in East Timor in 1975, it did so with the full backing of the United States and Australia, in a bid to prevent communist elements from taking control of the impoverished territory bordering East Nusa Tenggara province.
The UN never recognized East Timor as a legitimate part of Indonesia, and it maintained this stance until Jakarta gave up and allowed it to hold the independence referendum in 1999. In May 2002, East Timor became an independent country and on Sept. 27 that same year, it joined the United Nations and changed its name to Timor-Leste.
Indonesia’s occupation of former East Timor was shrouded by gross human rights violations. There is no guarantee that Russia will not repeat the grave mistakes of our history.
Russia’s annexation of the four territories of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia that it has occupied in independent Ukraine, for whatever reason, is a blatant violation of international laws and norms.
Putin’s excuses that the majority population in those territories is Russian and that their people voted “yes” in Russia’s unilaterally organized referendum are unacceptable and dangerous. The UN is highly unlikely to approve Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territories, in the same way that it never acknowledged East Timor as an integral part of Indonesia.
Yes, some countries may accept the four regions as de facto territories of Russia, but there will be no de jure recognition.
President Putin is one of the world’s most powerful and influential leaders and has played an effective and key role as a counterbalance to Western domination. Russia is also deeply involved in nearly all UN affairs in its capacity as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its annexation of Ukrainian territories now will change the worldview of Russia toward the negative, sooner or later.
The international community will never accept the invasion and annexation of territories that belong to a sovereign country, even though superpower US invaded Panama in 1989 following a military coup and the killing of a US Marine, and most recently, Iraq, ostensibly to eliminate terrorist elements.
Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global supply chains that led to a food and energy crisis that has affected almost 2 billion people in over 90 countries, particularly emerging and developing economies. Annexing the four Ukrainian territories will only worsen the situation, especially when the world stands on the precipice of a global recession.
Indonesia has called the Russia-backed referendum in the four territories a “breach of the UN Charter”. Putin needs to take Jakarta’s stance seriously. Beyond this, he should learn from our blunder in East Timor that caused incalculable costs.
