On Monday 9 September, the EU strongly condemned the regional and local by-elections organised by Russia on Ukrainian territory from 6 to 8 September, notably in the illegally annexed Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
These polls “constitute another act of violation of international law, the UN Charter and Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”, warned the spokesperson for the European External Action Service in a press release. The spokesperson recalled that the EU did not recognise the elections or their results in Crimea, deeming them “null and void and cannot produce any legal effects whatsoever”.
The spokesperson said that the Russian leaders and those responsible for organising these “illegal actions” would have to be held to account and suffer the consequences. The EU could therefore impose targeted sanctions against these officials, as it has done for previous elections.
Russia organised three by-elections for the 8th Russian State Duma, 19 elections for governors, 13 regional parliamentary elections and numerous municipal elections on its territory and in Crimea. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)