Seimas will never recognise the results of any illegal referendums to be held by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine

Press release, 15 September 2022

The Seimas, having regard to the Appeal by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, has strongly condemned Russia’s plans to hold illegal referendums on the annexation of the occupied territories to the Russian Federation and has noted that any referendums in the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian armed forces were unacceptable under both Ukrainian law and international law.

‘Illegal referendums planned by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine constitute a flagrant violation of international law, the United Nations Charter and the Constitution of Ukraine,’ the Resolution reads and further states that the Seimas will never recognise their results.

In presenting the document, Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas, stressed that the resolution was a response and a reaction to the above-mentioned appeal by Ukraine, received by the Lithuanian Parliament and the governments and parliaments of all democratic countries in the world.

The Resolution calls on the international community to take all necessary measures to warn the aggressor state, namely, the Russian Federation, and its top political leadership against organising or holding illegal referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, as they will have no legal force. The international community is also encouraged to refrain from recognising the results of the illegal referendums planned by Russia and any other form of “expression of the will of the people” in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian armed forces, as well as the passports of the Russian Federation issued in the occupied regions of Ukraine. The international community is further encouraged to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation for organising illegal referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine and to seek accountability for those who have been actively involved in the organisation and holding of illegal referendums or engaged in other related activities.

The Seimas invites the Schengen States to join the decision of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to restrict the admission of Russian citizens to national territories and take measures to significantly limit the flow of the citizens of the Russian Federation into the European Union and the Schengen area in order to ensure public security and internal security within the European Union.

The relevant Seimas Resolution submitted by members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs was adopted unanimously by 116 MPs.

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]