The EPP Group in the EU Parliament says it “strongly condemns the illegal referenda” organised by the Russian occupiers in Ukraine, in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The group said “they constitute a blatant violation of international law, are not legitimate and thus their so-called results have no legal power.”
“The shameful political smear theatricals of the Russian occupiers cannot produce any formal results. Whatever is proclaimed was not only extracted by force, but also prepared in violation of international law. It is therefore null and void”, said Michael Gahler MEP, the EPP Group’s Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Ukraine.
For Andrius Kubilius MEP, the EPP Group’s Spokesman on Russia, these “sham referenda reflect the absurdity and lunacy of Putin who is desperate not to lose everything.”
“What is next? Sham referenda on the Baltic States, Berlin and Paris?”, Kubilius asked.
Both MEPs reiterated that the EPP Group will not recognise what they call “the illegal and illegitimate annexation of the territory of Ukraine, as it never has, and will never recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea.”
They add, “Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state, free to choose its alliances. Russia’s war against Ukraine constitutes a crime of aggression and an attack against the European political and legal order and our values, as enshrined in numerous agreements and treaties, as well as against the Charter of the United Nations and the entire democratic world. We will make Russia accountable and we have to combine our international and, in particular, our European forces to establish an ad hoc tribunal for the Russian war of aggression. We are fighting this war together with the brave Ukrainian people who deserve to live in peace in their own country”, stressed Gahler and Kubilius.
