Homecoming: Successful Cases of Reintegration of De-Occupied Territories

Every month, the International Crisis Group analysts release a report sharing the results of their global monitoring of military conflicts and crises around the world. According to their data, right now there are at least 70 "deadly violence" centers on our planet.

One day, these wars will stop, and the affected people and territories will have to return to normal life. What is the scenario for recovery and reintegration?

"Taxes for the less fortunate", East Germany 

On October 3, 1990, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) joined the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The process of reunification of the country, which was divided after World War II, became one of the largest geopolitical events of the second half of the 20th century.

After the defeat in the war, Germany was occupied and divided into four zones: Soviet, American, British, and French. The last three eventually united into the Federal Republic of Germany. The eastern part of the country, on the other hand, fell under the control of the USSR, where the German Democratic Republic was formed in the fall of 1949.

U.S. financial support, known as the Marshall Plan, yielded results. The currency system was reformed and the principles of transition to a market economy were introduced giving rise to a rapid and intensive recovery in the West German states.

In the 1950s, the Western press began to talk about the economic "miracle on the Rhine." Over the next 10 years, income in Germany grew by an impressive 73%. In the Eastern lands controlled by authoritarian Moscow, the process was much slower. Economic and diplomatic ties between the FRG and the GDR were completely suspended. In 1961, Berliners woke up to a city divided by a huge barbed wire wall, which was later replaced by a concrete wall.

Germany faced the consequences of postwar events in the 1990s when, 45 years after the defeat in World War II and the rejection of Nazi ideology, the occupation forces were finally withdrawn from the country, Germany united its territories and people, but faced the problem of reintegrating the eastern lands.

The then Chancellor Helmut Kohl made an ambitious statement, promising the former East Germans the same standard of living as their Western compatriots. However, it was not so easy to implement this in practice.

At first, the residents of East Germany demanded that their marks be converted into West German marks at a 1:1 rate. This seemed strange, given the enormous difference in economic performance between the West and East.

But protests with calls: "Eins zu eins, oder wir werden niemals eins" ("1:1, otherwise we will never be united") were heard. And after lengthy discussions, the Bundesbank (Federal Bank) announced that it would meet these demands of East Germans.

Current incomes and pension payments were converted from the East German mark to the West German mark at 1:1; savings and debts were mostly converted at 2:1.

Subsequently, in order to equalize the critical imbalance in the welfare of citizens, the German government introduced the so-called "solidarity tax."

This was a tax that was to be paid by residents of the wealthier Western states for the maintenance and reconstruction of the less wealthy states of Eastern Germany. Initially, it amounted to 7.5% of personal income tax, and in 1998 it was reduced to 5.5%.

It is noteworthy that some Germans are still paying the solidarity tax, and the echoes of the economic and social disparities created by the occupation continue to be visible even after decades of reintegration efforts.

Kharkiv region, Ukraine 

Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories in 2014, and subsequently during its full-scale invasion in 2022, is becoming a global precedent. Targeted destruction of critical infrastructure, restrictions on civilians' access to food, water, and medical services, and blocking of exits from the occupied territories are just some of the tools used by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine. They also involve mass torture and extermination of people, deportation and total ideological processing of survivors.

Russia deliberately uses terror in the occupied territories and tries to cause maximum damage. The settlements of the North and East of Ukraine liberated by the Ukrainian army have revealed the truly shocking scale of damage caused by the Russian occupation.

First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko called the problem unprecedented: "No other country in the world has such experience. So, we cannot use standard practices. They simply do not exist. We have to develop our own experience. It is already clear that the approaches to restoring the de-occupied territories will be different. It's one thing when a community has been under occupation for a month, and another for a year or nine, like the territories of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

Unfortunately, no quick recovery is expected in any of the de-occupied territories. Currently, we are working on the basics: security and establishing the minimum necessary living conditions, focusing on demining, identifying collaborators, resuming work with local leaders of the de-occupied communities, and directly rebuilding critical infrastructure.

Croatia, Podunavlje

Three quarters of Croatia's occupied territories were liberated during the military campaigns of 1995. Eastern Slavonia - the Podunavlje - was reintegrated peacefully with international mediation.

On November 12, 1995, the Croatian government refused to conduct military operations in Podunavlje. Instead, an agreement was signed on the end of the war and a transitional period for the integration of the region into Croatia. The UN transitional administration was at the head of the peacekeeping operation, which took over the government and then handed it over to the Croats.

The mission began on January 15, 1996 and lasted until January 15, 1998 involving 4,800 soldiers, more than 400 police officers and 99 military observers to monitor the reintegration process. The first step was complete demilitarization: all military groups were withdrawn from the region, weapons were bought back or confiscated from the population, followed by demining of the territories, which is still ongoing.

The Croatian government has provided aid to the victims and launched a centralized infrastructure restoration effort. This has prompted many Croats to return home. The de-occupied territories received a special economic status. They were exempted from a number of taxes, provided with investments and government grants. After 15 years, the benefits were canceled.

It is noteworthy that in the list of more than 130 UN missions, the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Podunavlje is considered the only successful example in the history of the United Nations since 99% of all UN peacekeeping operations end in the preservation of the existing situation rather than the restoration of the pre-war status quo.

Reintegration of the occupied territories is a painful and multilayered process involving rebuilding infrastructure, restarting the economy, dealing with the traumatic experience of people who lived in the occupation zone - the list is endless. Its implementation requires complex decisions, long-term efforts and funding. But even under the most favorable circumstances, the scars created by the occupation will remain visible for decades, and may never disappear.