US, EU Condemn Crimea's Pro-Russia Referendum

(Vatican Radio) The United States and European Union have condemned the outcome of a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and are planning to announce sanctions against Russia later Monday. Their remarks came after election officials claimed first results of Sunday's vote showed some 95 percent of voters in Crimea had decided to join the Russian Federation.


Huge enthusiastic crowds of Pro-Russians in the Crimean capital Simferopol gathered in Lenin Square after polls closed.


With a moment of reflection and then fireworks, they celebrated after officials announced at least nine out of ten voters had decided Crimea should join Russia.


"We have won, we have won," speakers shouted from the stage.


Crimea's, pro-Kremlin Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov added that Crimea "is going back home". He said, "Crimea is in Russia."


However that's not how the United States and the European Union view the outcome of Sunday's referendum.


The White House said President Barack Obama had warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that of the U.S. and its allies were "prepared to impose additional costs on Russia for its actions."

And the U.S. signaled it could act as soon as Monday to impose sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Crimea, and for conducting the referendum while occupying troops were in place.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers will also decide whether to impose asset freeze and visa sanctions and, if so, who to target, explained Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans.


"The behaviour of Russia now is completely unacceptable," he told reporters in Brussels. "I would do anything possible to avoid sanctions because I believe everybody will suffer if we get into sanctions. But the only ones who can prevent this are the Russians," Timmermans added.


Yet Crimean officials claim 82 percent of voters participated in Sunday's poll and that the referendum was legitimate.


But in Kyiv people have their doubts. "We don't believe this," a man said, near a giant television screen. "The whole world is not believing it, only Russia. We cannot abandon the people in Crimea. Together we will fight till the end."


Yet Moscow has made clear it will recognize the referendum and that Crimea could become part of Russia within days.


Listen to Stefan Bos’ report: