On Monday evening, 11 September, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) warned that the European Union did not recognise the elections (and in particular the election of the governor) which were held in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sunday 10 September alongside regional and local elections in the Russian Federation. By-elections also took place for the city and for the parliamentary assembly of Sevastopol.
"The European Union has not recognised the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and therefore does not recognise the holding of elections in the Crimean peninsula", the EEAS spokesperson said in a press release. "Anybody elected in the Crimean peninsula claiming to 'represent' Crimea and Sevastopol will not be recognised as representatives of those territories, which are Ukrainian", the spokesperson added. The EU could take out sanctions against these people, a source told EUROPE – as was the case for the people elected in Crimea to the Russian Duma (see EUROPE 11664). Dmitry Ovsyannikov was re-elected to the post of governor with over 71% of the votes.
EU calls for release of Deputy Chair of the Mejlis
Elsewhere, in another press release, the EEAS spokesperson again called on Monday evening, 11 September, for the release of Akhtem Chyigoz, Deputy Chair of the Mejlis, the Assembly of Tatars in Crimea. Chyigoz was sentenced the same day to eight years of imprisonment by the 'Supreme Court' of Simferopol, for "organising mass disturbances" in February 2014.
The EEAS spokesperson also stated that the EU expected the charges against another Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, Ilmi Umerov, to be dropped immediately. "The banning of the activities of the Mejlis (...) and the persecution of its leaders, constitute serious and unacceptable violations of their rights", the spokesperson said.
"We reiterate our long standing position that all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the Crimean peninsula and in the Russian Federation must be released immediately", the EEAS spokesperson stated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)