ROME, October 3 – Novosti. Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergei Razov, invited earlier on Monday to the Italian Foreign Ministry, categorically rejected the statements of the Italian side regarding referendums in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, the diplomatic mission reported.
Italian Foreign Secretary General Ettore Secui “announced the official assessments of the completed referendums agreed at the EU level,” the diplomatic mission said. Earlier, Sekui said that he expressed one-time condemnation of Italy in connection with the “farcical referendums”, declared their illegality and added that Italy “will fully act together with the partner states in assessing further restrictive measures against Russia’s illegal actions.”
“For his part, the Russian Ambassador categorically rejected the statements of the Italian side and outlined his views on the merits of the issues raised in the spirit of the provisions of the speech of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in the Georgievsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace on September 30,” the embassy said.
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in the Kremlin following the results of referendums in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, after which he signed agreements with their heads on admitting the regions to the Russian Federation. Later, the Constitutional Court of Russia recognized the treaties on the admission of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions , to the country’s constitution as conforming to the country’s constitution .
Referendums on the issue of joining Russia were held from 23 to 27 September in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. According to the results of processing 100% of the ballots in the DPR, 99.23% of those who voted for joining the Russian Federation, in the LPR – 98.42%, in the Kherson region – 87.05%, in the Zaporozhye region – 93.11%.
The public addressed the regional authorities with the initiative to immediately hold referendums. According to representatives of the republics and regions, joining Russia will secure their territories and restore historical justice. In their opinion, this decision is extremely necessary in the context of constant acts of terror by the nationalist authorities of Ukraine and NATO members , who supply weapons to kill civilians.
The West, not recognizing the referendums on joining Russia, is showing double standards, Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya said earlier in the UN Security Council , recalling the recognition of Kosovo . There are other examples in history of the recognition by the West of the separation and annexation of territories without the consent of the states to which they belonged. Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836 and then became part of the United States ; in 1990 and 1991, Slovenia and Croatia held referendums on independence from Yugoslavia without the consent of its authorities and were recognized; in 1991, referendums on independence from the USSR were held in Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia , Moldova , Turkmenistan , Armenia and Azerbaijan – against the will of the Soviet leadership and the entire Soviet people, who spoke in an all-Union referendum in favor of preserving the Union; and during the unification of the FRG and the GDR, no one asked the opinion of the population at all – the absorption of East Germany by West took place without a referendum.
At the same time, the results of referendums within the Western countries themselves are ignored. In 2017, 90% of the inhabitants of the autonomy voted for the independence of Catalonia from Spain , after which Madrid began large-scale repressions against supporters of independence. At the end of 2017, the inhabitants of the Italian Veneto and Lombardy demanded more autonomy from Rome in referendums, but the process of granting new powers from the central authorities stalled.
