The Flemish Parliament condemns the illegal annexation and sham referendums in Ukraine

The Flemish Parliament unanimously approved a resolution condemning the illegal Russian annexation of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. The Russian occupation forces previously organised sham referendums in these areas. “A mockery of international law and the democratic right of self-determination of the Ukrainian people,” says initiator Karl Vanlouwe.

The resolution condemns that annexation and the sham referendums, which are a flagrant violation of international law. The entire Flemish Parliament thus fully supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and denounces this mockery of the Ukrainian people’s right to self-determination.

With a revolver to the head

According to Flemish MP Karl Vanlouwe, this is a tried and tested Russian recipe: “Illegal annexation and sham referendums are cornerstones of Russia’s doctrine of conquest, as we have already seen in Crimea or Donbas in 2014. With a revolver to the head, and after targeted Russification and population displacements, the Ukrainian people are forced to make their choice known in a sham referendum. This is a hallucinatory violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which must therefore never be recognised internationally.”