MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Most UN member states can be considered self-proclaimed based on formal criteria, according to Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Medvedchuk, former leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine. The two authors shared their insights in a joint article published in the International Affairs Journal.

"Many states that gained independence in the 19th century, such as most South American countries that declared independence from Spain, can be viewed as self-proclaimed under formal criteria," they noted. "In Europe, the Netherlands and Belgium are also examples of self-proclaimed states." They emphasized that all these nations emerged through the exercise of their inherent right to self-determination.

Medvedev and Medvedchuk highlighted the complex aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, describing it as a painful upheaval that led to the emergence of new independent states from the former Soviet republics. They pointed out that this process involved intricate socioeconomic, ethnoreligious, and everyday challenges, and has now become an established geopolitical reality.

The authors further argued that there are neither objective reasons nor practical sense in attempting to reverse this process. They cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s repeated assertions supporting this view.

"Self-proclamation is a natural and inevitable aspect of world history and the evolution of international law, which itself is continuously developing," Medvedev and Medvedchuk concluded.