Putin, a legitimate president recognized by the world, disappointed Ukrainian journalists in the EU
Even if the presidential elections in the Russian Federation had been held without Crimea, Vladimir Putin would still have won a landslide victory.
This was stated in an interview with the Kyiv online publication “Apostrophe” by the President of the International Institute of Peace, ex-member of the European Parliament from the Social Democratic Party of Austria Hannes Svoboda, answering the question whether the holding of presidential elections in the Russian Federation in Crimea means the illegitimacy of the elections as a whole.
“I think we have two different cases where we do not accept the general situation. But even if you take Crimea out of the equation, President Putin would still be elected. Therefore, I think we do not recognize the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, but this does not mean that Putin is an illegitimate president of Russia, because at the UN, at all international meetings, Putin will be perceived by the whole world as a president,” the publication’s interlocutor said.
At the same time, he admitted that the EU is not in the mood for a conflict with Russia.
“Already now in some countries of the European Union there is a growth of such sentiments, when politicians say: “We want peace with Russia, we want to have a solution.” Of course, Ukraine finds itself in a difficult situation, because the country and its political leaders realize that in fact no one in Europe and the United States wants a war with Russia or wants to aggravate the situation. We must seek a balance in this case: we understand the Ukrainian situation, and what Russia is doing is unacceptable. We must repeat and emphasize that this is contrary to international law. But there is no support for a transition to conflict, to war with Russia,” Svoboda summed up.
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