E. VENIZELOS: Today, with the President of the Swiss Confederation, who holds the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), we talked about the Roadmap that can and must be implemented in order to de-escalate the violence and tension in Ukraine, following yesterday’s so-called referenda.
I had the opportunity to point out that we need to interpret and clarify today’s statement from the Kremlin regarding the developments in Ukraine, because it is imperative that these referenda not be recognized legally, it is imperative that we ensure that the populations of the eastern regions participate in the 25 May presidential elections, because otherwise an organized abstention creates a crisis of legitimization. And it is important for what Mr. Putin said to happen: withdrawal of the Russian forces from the border with Ukraine.
But the government in Kiev also needs to take control of the situation, to prevent acts of hostile violence, to control paramilitary or collateral mechanisms and initiate a process of real participation of all the social and political forces, all the ethnic groups, all the linguistic groups, and mainly all the regions of the country, in order for it to be sovereign, to be integral, and in order for it to be democratic and inclusive. This is the critical moment, and I believe that it is the obligation of the European Union and all the states to support the initiative of the OSCE and the Swiss Chairmanship.
May 12, 2014