France Will Not Recognize Results Of Russian General Election In Crimea - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2021) Paris will not recognize the results of the upcoming Russian parliamentary elections in Crimea as legitimate, the French Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the Crimean electoral commission reported that three French citizens registered with it to monitor the elections on the peninsula.

"France does not recognize the legitimacy of the holding elections in Crimea, nor the results of the ballot," a spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement when asked to comment on Paris' stance regarding the situation with the French observers in Crimea.

Russian legislative elections will take place from September 17-19. The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is elected for a five-year term under a mixed electoral system � 225 lawmakers are elected on party lists, and another 225 on single-mandate Constituencies in one round.

Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014 after a referendum determined that more than 95% of the peninsula's voters were in favor of reunification. Most Western countries sided with Ukraine in denying the referendum's results.