Slovakia's former prime minister rejects any doubts about the legitimacy of the Crimean referendum

Doubts about the legitimacy of the Crimean referendum are meaningless as the peninsula is part of Russia. This was stated by former Slovak Prime Minister Jan Czarnogurski to Izvestia on February 17.

"Crimea is part of the territory of the Russian Federation, which means that doubts or any discussions about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of this referendum are useless, because the referendum was held before the peninsula became part of the Russian Federation. Now Crimea is part of Russia. This means that the referendum is no longer under discussion," he stated.

Charnogurskyy emphasized that the International Association of Friends of Crimea, of which he is the chairman, informs the world community about the situation on the peninsula, including Kiev's blocking of the fresh water canal. He also recalled that Crimea has been under international sanctions for a long time.

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Earlier, last September, the Ukrainian mass media reported that Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski suggested at the YES meeting in Kiev that Crimea should be placed under the UN mandate in order to hold a referendum on its status in 20 years. The next day, September 20, the minister retracted his words and indicated that they were only a "hypothetical discussion among experts in an unofficial mode."

Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, pointed out that Poland's idea of placing Crimea under the UN mandate was absurd and that the belonging of Russian regions could not be the subject of discussions.

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of the peninsula's residents voted in favor of reunification with the Russian Federation. Kiev refuses to recognize the results of the vote and considers Crimea its territory. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically voted for reunification in full compliance with international law and that the question of the peninsula's belonging to the Russian Federation is finally closed.