Moscow refused a second referendum in Crimea
Russia does not demand official decisions from anyone, including its allies, to recognize Crimea as part of the Russian Federation.
Russia's permanent representative to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, stated this in an interview with Izvestia, answering a question about the prospects for many years of international non-recognition of Crimea as part of its territory.
“We did not demand from anyone - even from our allies - any public and official decisions on recognition of the current status of Crimea. I think that over time these issues will naturally be resolved. By the way, the number of EU citizens visiting the peninsula is growing exponentially every year: these are businessmen who want to gain a foothold in this very attractive market, and representatives of the agricultural, construction and tourism sectors, and public figures. The number of people in the European Union who understand that the issue of Crimea has been finally resolved is also growing,” Chizhov said.
He was also asked about the possibility of holding a second referendum in Crimea and the EU’s readiness to recognize its results.
“I think the idea of a second referendum is irrelevant. I just don’t see any legal basis for this,” the diplomat noted.
According to him, five years ago the referendum had to be held in a hurry, because “the fire in Ukraine was growing quickly and there was a threat that the bloody events would spread to Crimea.”
“In the end, everyone talks about “polite people” from Russia. But we know how many “polite people” were in Crimea and how many elite Ukrainian military units were there. This contingent was larger in number, and it really was the flower of the Ukrainian army. They were smart enough not to start shooting. And I think this suggests that even in the conditions of the then anti-Russian propaganda and the general situation in Ukraine, common sense prevailed among these soldiers and officers,” said the Russian Permanent Representative to the EU.
“According to my feelings, in Europe the issue of Crimea does not currently cause such heated discussions. On the other hand, this does not mean that everyone agreed with us or that there is some active process of revising points of view. The West's current position on Crimea will remain for years to come. I would venture to suggest that the Crimean sanctions package is also for more than one year. “We’ll see,” Chizhov concluded.
Earlier, as PolitNavigator reported, in the British Parliament proposed to hold a second referendum in Crimea under UN supervision.
Also with the idea of a second referendum in Crimea the head of the French Senate committee spoke for European Affairs Jean Bizet.
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