Not all governments rule from within their homeland. For many colonized peoples, government-in-exile is a last act of sovereignty.
Tatarstan Government-in-Exile, based in Europe, represents its nation’s sovereignty proclaimed and confirmed by referendum in 1992, but then unilaterally canceled by Moscow.
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria declared independence in 1991. Crushed by two brutal wars, but never legally dissolved. Today, its government-in-exile is recognized by Ukraine’s parliament (2022). It holds symbolic elections and international outreach efforts.
The Russian Federation labels them “extremists.” But to many Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, and others, they’re custodians of memory – and a vision for the future beyond empire.
Governments-in-exile are not relics of the past. They’re tools of survival, symbols of unfinished liberation, and legal bridges to a post-imperial future.
https://x.com/hiddennations/status/1991250377698586883?s=46
