voiceofrussia.com
March 17, 2014
The Crimean referendum was fully in line with international standards, its results should be recognised both in Ukraine and western countries, Austrian member of the European Parliament Johann Stadler said at the final press-conference of international observers on Sunday.
A referendum on the status of the republic was held in the Crimea on Sunday. According to exit poll results obtained by the Crimean Republican Institute of Political and Sociological Studies, about 95,5 percent of those who came to polling stations voted for the Crimea to join Russia.
Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that the referendum in the Crimea fully complied with the UN Charter and its results will become a departing point in determining the future of the peninsula.
Stadler confirmed that the referendum met all international standards and stressed that while he watched the voting he did not see any irregularities, such as putting pressure on voters, for example. As the ballot boxes were transparent, international observers could see that there were no manipulations, Stadler said.
International observers will present final declaration on referendum in Crimea on March 17.
International observers at the referendum on the status of the Crimea are to present their opinion on Monday, head of the mission Tadeusz Piskorski (Poland) said at a press-conference in Simferopol. “Tomorrow morning we will present our final declaration,” he said.
Latvian MP Tatyana Zhdanok said in turn that there were no irregularities at the polling stations that she visited. She mentioned that voters’ activity was slightly lower in Bakhchisarai but still on average 40 percent of voters on the list had voted by noon.
“We spotted nothing wrong in the voting procedure,” she said.
Tatyana Zhdanok emphasized high voting activity in Simferopol. “Queues formed already at 8 am there and at 10 am about 50 percent of the voters had already voted,” she said.
Zhdanok also pointed out that the voting was well organized and there were no breaches of democracy.
The referendum on the status of the Crimea was held on 16 March.
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