Crimea votes to join Russia

MOSCOW/HARARE. — The Republic of Crimea has addressed the UN and the world community to recognise it, according to a document drafted by the region’s Supreme Council. This comes as the region’s parliament declared Crimea an independent sovereign state. The Supreme Council of Crimea unanimously voted to integrate the region into Russia. This was after the announcement of the official results of the referendum: 96,77 percent of the Crimean population voted ‘for’ integration of the region into the Russian Federation.

The turnout was 83.1 percent.

The referendum saw a massive turnout, with 81.3 percent of the eligible voting population participating, the head of the Crimean parliament’s commission on the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev, said.

There were 1 233 002 votes “for” integration, with the total number of those who voted standing at 1 274 096 people.

The referendum commission has not received any complaints, Malyshev stressed. On Sunday evening, in Simferopol, the capital of the republic, at least 15 000 people gathered to celebrate the referendum’s results in the central Lenin square, waving Russian and Crimean flags.

Next week, Crimea will officially introduce the ruble as a second official currency along with Ukrainian hryvna, Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told Interfax.

The dual currency is to be established in about six months.

Overall, the republic’s integration into Russia will take up to a year, the premier said. However, it wants to maintain relations with “economic entities, including Ukraine,” rather than burn bridges.

“The hopes of the Crimean people, who voted in Sunday’s referendum for accession to Russia, should not be forfeited,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin declared on Monday.

Rogozin has characterised the results of the referendum as “splendid” and described them as “a demonstration of the national spirit of our people, which speaks of the hopes that the residents of Crimea are pinning on Russia.”

“We should justify their hopes in full measure,” Rogozin stressed.

The referendum on the future of Crimea held Sunday, March 16, fully met international law and norms, Russian President Vladimir Putin said early morning yesterday in a telephone conversation with United States of America President Barack Obama, the Kremlin press service said.

As Putin spoke about the referendum, he made emphasis on the fact that “its effectuation fully conformed to the norms of international law and the UN Charter and took account of the precedent set by Kosovo, among other things.”

Along with this, people living in Crimea were guaranteed the right of a free expression of will and self-determination, he said.

Both presidents said that, in spite of existing differences of assessment, it is important to look for ways of assisting in the stabilisation of Ukraine.

Putin called Obama’s attention to the inability or unwillingness of the powers that be in Kiev to bridle the outrage of ultranationalist and radical groupings, which are destabilising the situation and terrorising peaceful residents, including the Russian-speaking population and their fellow-countrymen.

In this context, they discussed a possibility of sending a monitoring mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation to Ukraine.

Putin said the activity of the mission should embrace all the regions of Ukraine. Obama also took the opportunity to congratulate Putin on the successful completion of the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi and asked him to convey greetings to all the athletes who had taken part in them.

The conversation was held at the initiative from the US side.

Late night Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, in the course of which he confirmed Russia’s position on the referendum. Lavrov urged Washington to use its influence on the incumbent authorities in Kiev to cut short the mass acts of lawlessness against the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

l Officials at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said Lavrov and Kerry agreed to continue working on a search for ways for settlement of the crisis in Ukraine through an earliest possible launch of the constitutional reform supported by the international community in a commonly acceptable manner and respect for the interests of all of Ukraine’s regions. — Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Zimbabwe.