UN to vote on declaring Crimea referendum invalid
The resolution is expected to be approved by a simple majority of the193 UN member states. It calls on all UN members “to desist and refrain” from actions aimed at disruption of the national unity of Ukraine and its borders.
By Erol Avdovic
UNITED NATIONS
The UN General Assembly will vote Thursday on a resolution that would declare invalid the Crimean referendum on becoming part of Russia.
The resolution, titled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine,” will be put to a vote at 10 a.m. EDT (1400GMT). It is intended to send a message in support of Ukrainian state sovereignty and it is expected to be approved by a wide margin.
“The resolution is sponsored by more than 30 UN member states. There is a huge expectation, with 99 percent chance, that the resolution will be adopted,” a UN diplomat, talking on condition of anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
The resolution needs only a simple majority to be approved. The UN has 193 members.
Western countries and many others are expected to vote in favor of the resolution, and “only a few countries will vote against, among them Venezuela, North Korea and Syria, with Cuba abstaining,” the diplomat said.
The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by AA, stresses that the referendum held March 16 in Crimea was not authorized by Ukraine. It expresses an unambiguous commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. And it says the referendum in Crimea, in which voters decided to leave Ukraine and join Russia, “has no validity, and cannot be the basis for any alteration of the status” of Crimea or the city of Sevastopol, Crimea's capital.
The draft calls on all UN member states “to desist and refrain” from actions aimed at disrupting the territorial integrity of Ukraine “through the threat or use of force or other unlawful means." Russia has taken effective control of Crimea by force.
The draft also calls on all member states not to recognize any violent change in Crimea's status.
The resolution would be non-binding. The diplomat said the primary goal was to deliver a “strong and unified message” to Moscow, even though Russia is not mentioned in the document.
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