Fiala: Annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia “unacceptable and illegitimate”

“The Czech Republic does not recognise the referendums on annexation of the four Ukrainian regions to Russia,” Czech Prime Minister Pete Fiala stated on Twitter on Friday. He said that the annexation of these territories by the Russian Federation is “unacceptable and illegitimate.” The Czech government further considers these territories Ukrainian, he said.

The statement came after Vladimir Putin signed “accession treaties” that formalize Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine, the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.

Earlier on Friday, Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told Czech Radio that the referendum in the Russian occupied territories of Ukraine was a sham and that further EU sanctions on Russia are being prepared.

The four partially occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia in Ukraine, officially voted for becoming a part of Russia this week in a referendum widely condemned within the international community as illegitimate.