Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The leaders of the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) and the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso respectively, called on Russia on Wednesday 12 March “to immediately halt actions supporting a referendum on the territory of Crimea regarding its status, in direct violation of the constitution of Ukraine”.
In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, the French president, François Hollande, called on the Russian president, Vladmir Putin, to do all he could to prevent Crimea becoming attached to Russia, because this annexing would be unacceptable to the international community. Four days ahead of Sunday's referendum organised by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine about the Crimean peninsula joining Russia, Hollande said that the referendum was being organised with a total lack of transparency and without any legal basis. Hollande said there was still time to prevent a “dangerous and unnecessary escalation”.
The G7 leaders “call on the Russian Federation to cease all efforts to change the status of Crimea contrary to Ukrainian law and in violation of international law”, and they add: “Any such referendum would have no legal effect. Given the lack of adequate preparation and the intimidating presence of Russian troops, it would also be a deeply flawed process which would have no moral force. For all these reasons, we would not recognise the outcome”.
The G7 threatens new sanctions against Russia if it annexes Crimea, stating: “Russian annexation of Crimea would be a clear violation of the United Nations Charter (…) and could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states. Should the Russian Federation take such a step, we will take further action, individually and collectively.” At a debate at the European Parliament, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle and Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas announced that the EU would not recognise the outcome of the 16 March referendum in Crimea, which they say will be illegal and illegitimate.
European Parliament support for sanctions against Russia.
In a debate, MEPs criticised Russia's “invasion” of Ukraine and the holding of an “illegitimate” referendum. They backed the idea of EU sanctions. On behalf of the EPP, José Ignacio Salafranca (Spain), said that coherent and effective international action was needed to get Russia to do a U-turn on its aim of annexing Crimea, calling for mediation along with sanctions if the situation did not improve. Johannes Cornelis Van Baalen (ALDE, the Netherlands) said that in a week or two, Russia would have a Crimean fait accompli for the world to see, adding that both houses of the Russian Parliament were prepared for the illegal annexation of Crimea.
Putin is using weapons to force a false referendum on people, said Charles Tannock (ECR, United Kingdom), adding that Russia's behaviour was unacceptable and sanctions should be imposed. Pawe³ Robert Kowal (ECR, Poland) said that the only thing that would persuade Putin to change his mind was sanctions. Diplomacy is the right way forward, but Russia refuses to accept it, regretted Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany), adding that sanctions had to be drawn up and that it needed to be demonstrated that the aim was not to harm the Russian people, but only those who are responsible.
Adrian Severin (Non-attached, Romania) called for European peace-keeping troops to be sent to the country. Rolandas Paksas (EFD, Lithuania) said that civil war could break out at any time and there was a great deal of talk, but little action - so a G8 should be urgently convened to preserve peace.
Several MEPs, like the head of the S&D Group at the Parliament, Hannes Swoboda of Austria, called for presidential and general elections to be held rapidly in Ukraine. (CG)