ABSTRACT
The fact of non-recognition brings a number of threats to de facto states – the most serious being the fact that their existence is not protected by international law and they have to seek protection from those states which are willing to provide it. Most post-Soviet de facto states in Eurasia are thus closely connected to their patron states, which provide de facto states with security guarantees on a unilateral basis. Most de facto states in Eurasia have been formed with either direct or indirect support from Russia. The cases of Chechnya and Gagauzia provided comprehensive empirical material; in none of the areas examined were these two de facto states viable. The state authorities in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as in Transnistria and South Ossetia are failing in successful promotion of a viable independent and internationally recognized state among its population and most of their citizens prefer joining Russia.
