OSCE Chief says 'referendums' in eastern Ukraine illegal and provocative

15:44, 12.05.2014 1 min read

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter has condemned the referendums recently held in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

He said that the referendums held yesterday in some localities in eastern Ukraine are "incompatible with the Ukrainian constitution and are therefore illegal."

It is this sort of provocative act that must be avoided, he said at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Burkhalter informed that the OSCE roadmap on conflict settlement presented last week to Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine urges the four parties to refrain from taking actions that contradict Ukrainian legislation.

It is important that these referendums not be recognized by the international community, he said.