A truly weak and scared country would preemptively reject those people’s will and never publicly hint that all options are on the table for defending them if they decide to join their country. A truly confident and strong country, however, would let the world know that they’ll treat those people as their own citizens and their land as their integral territory if they vote to join their country.
In other news: https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1576148827509489665