Crimea: referendum illegitimate and illegal

The President of the European People's Party (EPP) and Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, made the following statement on today's so-called referendum in Crimea, Ukraine:

“The results of today’s referendum are like the chronicle of a death foretold where the citizens of Crimea, under Russian bayonets, had actually only one option. The referendum was organised by a self-proclaimed and illegitimate authority in violation of the Ukrainian and Crimean Constitutions and therefore we do not recognise its results. Crimea is part of Ukraine, which is a sovereign state with a legitimate government. We will not accept any changes to the internationally-recognised borders of Ukraine.”

The leader of the largest political family in Europe made a strong call for Russia’s international isolation: “If a country wants to be treated as a partner, as an equal, then certain behaviour is no longer acceptable in the XXI century. Sanctions against it must be applied immediately. On behalf of the EPP political family, I call on the international institutions to suspend Russia from the G8 and the OSCE. I will ask our EPP Group colleagues at the Council of Europe to do the same by invoking Article 8. I welcome the postponement of the accession of Russia to OECD.”