The war in Ukraine clearly shows what disastrous consequences separatism can lead to. Freedom House, a well-known international non-governmental organisation, has published maps of states and territories according to the degree of "freedom" and the dynamics of these "freedoms". These maps, in fact, "legalise" almost all separatist territories in the post-Soviet space.

The Ukrainian Crimea annexed by Russia, the DNR and LNR on the territory of Ukraine, Pridnestrovye on the territory of Moldova, the separatist Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region on the territory of Georgia are painted in separate colours or "separated by borders" from the states, of which they are an integral part according to all norms of international law. The separatist "Artsakh" or NKR on the territory of Azerbaijan, liquidated during the 44-day war, is also painted with a different colour than Azerbaijan. Although, however, no such state exists in principle, and the whole world recognises Karabakh as an inseparable part of a single unitary Azerbaijan.

Paradoxically, the Freedom House map shows neo-Nazi and mono-ethnic Armenia and separatist Artsakh, unlike Azerbaijan, which is painted as "not free", as "partly free". It should be reminded that representatives of various nations, including about 30 thousand Armenians live peacefully in Azerbaijan and no one even thinks of discriminating against them.

 At the same time, there is not a single Azerbaijani left in the territories under Armenian or "Artsakh" separatist control until 2020 - they were all expelled and killed, and there are almost no representatives of other nationalities - these are completely mono-ethnic communities. But they turn out to be "partly free" according to Freedom House classification?

Similarly, it is unclear on what basis separatist Abkhazia that was singled out by Freedom House is considered "partly free" and from which 300 thousand Georgians were expelled. The remaining Georgians in the Gali district of Abkhazia live in conditions of apartheid and total discrimination.  But in terms of "freedom" this occupied territory, with its completely powerless population (while Abkhazians as well are actually powerless before the arbitrary rule of occupants and their henchmen), appears to have the same "degree of freedom" as "partly free" Georgia, according to Freedom House.  People come to Georgia only for freedom, while Abkhazia, the occupied separatist Abkhazia, although "separated" from Georgia according to Freedom House, is painted with the same colour.

However, the separatist Tskhivali region on the map of Freedom House, unlike the separatist Abkhazia, is marked as "not free" and is painted in the same colour as the occupied Russia. The separatist territories of the DNR, LNR, Transnistria and Russia-annexed Crimea are also coloured as "not free". The principle by which Freedom House distinguishes "partially free", occupied and separatist territories from "not free" is not entirely clear.

But if we consider that in the separatist Abkhazia, in fact, the majority of the population are already Armenians who control the entire economy of the separatist territory, as well as the same Armenians are the only ethnic group living in places where so far under the cover of Russian peacekeepers in Azerbaijani Karabakh the underdogs have entrenched, then everything falls into place. It turns out that, according to Freedom House, Armenians, as the "most ancient nation" are bringing the "spirit of freedom" to places where they are massively settled, as well as expelling and displacing other peoples. It is difficult to explain in any other way the colouring of the map in Freedom House's version.

Freedom House has other maps and on all of them the separatist territories are painted as separate. Freedom House might as well have "painted over" the territories controlled by terrorists, like ISIS. But for some reason it does not do so, and in fact "legalizes" separatists who are not in principle different from international terrorists. The question is why this is happening and why Freedom House needs it.

The matter is that, unfortunately, there are lobbyists of separatism in the international non-governmental organizations up to now. Because separatism in the post-Soviet space is supported by the Armenian lobby in every possible way and these are usually the same figures.

It is easy enough to define them - along with their attempts to push through the legalisation of separatism, they are also constantly talking about the need to recognise the mythical "Armenian genocide". At the same time, they turn a blind eye to the fact that separatism leads to the real genocide of entire peoples already in our times.

Freedom House is a non-governmental organisation headquartered in Washington DC. It is financed by donations of governments, organizations and individuals. Moreover, 66-80% of its budget is funded by grants from the US government. The Armenian lobby in the USA is notoriously strong. Having achieved neither recognition of the mythical "genocide" at the official level, nor of the separatist "Artsakh", these lobbyists are now concentrating their efforts on international non-governmental organizations. And judging by the maps published, it is Freedom House that has become the target of manipulation by the Armenian lobby, which only discredits the organisation.

Kavkazplus