EU Refuses To Recognize Russia's Sovereignty Over Crimea - Borrell

(@FahadShabbir)

EU Refuses to Recognize Russia's Sovereignty Over Crimea - Borrell

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2021) The European Union will not recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday, almost seven years after the Black Sea region voted to leave Ukraine.

"The European Union remains steadfast in its commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders... [It] does not recognise and continues to condemn this violation of international law," he said.

The statement was released a day ahead of the Day of Resistance to the Occupation that the Ukrainian president declared last year to commemorate the loss of the region.

The EU said it welcomed Kiev's "diplomatic efforts" to bring Crimea back and would consider any Ukrainian ideas to this effect.

Crimea, a Russian enclave, was transferred to Ukraine in 1954 by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. An overwhelming majority in Crimea voted in March 2014 to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia in a referendum that Ukraine and its Western allies rejected as illegal.