None of the diplomatic representatives of the European Union (EU) and its member states accredited in Russia should participate in today’s upcoming inauguration ceremony of the leader of the Russian regime, Vladimir Putin, the European People’s Party (EPP) faction of the European Parliament has invited in a letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Giuseppe Borel.
As the assistant of EP Sandra Kalniete (JV) Elīna Bīviņa informed the agency LETA, the letter was signed by the chairman of the faction Manfrēds Vēbers and three deputies of the Baltic states – Rasa Juknevičiene and Andrjus Kubilius from Lithuania and Kalniete.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže has emphasized on social networks that Latvian diplomats will not participate in the inauguration of the leader of the aggressor state. “Representatives of the Latvian embassy will not attend the inauguration of the leader of an aggressor country that attacks everything we stand for,” Braže announced, “Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.”
“Presidential “elections” in Russia were held in the best Soviet traditions, when the outcome of the election is already known in advance, all that remains is to throw the required number of ballots into the ballot boxes and record it in the vote counting protocol. The ambassadors of European countries must not legitimize this electoral farce by their presence at Putin’s inauguration. European Union member states action towards Russia and Putin’s regime must be united and consistent. Democracy cannot afford to be complacent in the face of an aggressor whose invasion of Ukraine threatens the peace of the whole of Europe Mountaineer.
ETP emphasized in the letter to Borel that the presidential “elections” in Russia were illegitimate and undemocratic, therefore Putin’s presidency cannot be recognized. The letter emphasizes that the “elections” took place in the illegally occupied territories of Ukraine, which is a clear violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and a clear violation of international law and, in particular, of the UN Charter. Even in Russia itself, the “elections” were neither free nor fair, they did not meet the basic international election standards and, therefore, they were not democratic.
In the letter, the members of the group urge the international community to stop referring to Putin as the President of Russia as soon as his current term of office expires on May 7, 2024, and to end all contacts with him, because “he will have neither the moral nor political mandate to conclude any future contractual relations on behalf of Russia “.
The faction of the European People’s Party reminds that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and he is accused of war crimes – the illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens and especially children from the occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia.
The ETP group has been the largest in the European Parliament since 1999. Currently, 177 members work in it.
Tags: diplomats urged attend Putins inauguration
