The European Union refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Russian legislation in Crimea, the bloc's foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2020) The European Union refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Russian legislation in Crimea, the bloc's foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said on Friday.
Stano issued a press release following the sentencing of six individuals on Wednesday who were arrested in Crimea this past July. One of the convicted individuals, Server Mustafayev, is a Crimean Tatar activist, and the bloc is calling on Russia to reverse the convictions.
"The European Union does not recognise the enforcement of Russian legislation in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as it is illegal under international law, nor the transfer of Ukrainian citizens from Crimea to courts in Russia. The EU calls on Russia to reverse these decisions and to release all illegally detained Ukrainians without delay," the statement read.
Moscow has previously called on the international community to cease interfering in Russia's domestic affairs. In May, the Russian Embassy in Canada criticized the authorities in Ottawa for issuing a statement that appeared to support the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, which is an outlawed in Russia on account of being an extremist organization.
Crimea, a peninsula that Russia gave to Ukraine during the Soviet era, held a referendum in 2014 and 97 percent of voters voiced their approval to rejoin Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the referendum was conducted in compliance with international law, but Kiev never recognized its legitimacy.
