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Russian upper house speaker calls Crimea’s reunification with Russia major historic event

On Friday, Russia is marking the second anniversary of Crimea’s referendum on reunification with Russia
Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko  Federation Council press service/TASS
Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko
© Federation Council press service/TASS

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Crimea’s reunification with Russia is a major historical event not only for Russia but also for the entire world, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko said on Friday.

"The reunification is the biggest, in the full sense of the word, historical event not only for Crimea and its residents, not only for Russia but for the entire world," she wrote on her official blog on the upper house’s official website on the occasion of the second anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

"Not only in the 21st century but also in the entire history, there are a few examples when people’s right to self-determination was realized so democratically, in such a civilized manner open for the entire international community," she noted. "It became possible thanks to the fact that the authorities, public organizations and residents of Crimea had created all necessary conditions to make the expression of will really free."

She underscored that the Crimeans demonstrated unanimity in their aspiration for reunification with Russia. "Only those who are unable to see that people were given a possibility to remedy the decades-long historic injustice can doubt the results of the referendum," she wrote. For all those long years, in her words, Crimean residents never stopped thinking of themselves as a part of Russia, a part of Russia’s history and culture, and never stopped hoping to be back within Russia.

"The international community has had a chance to see that Russia is capable and ready to defend the legal interests and aspiration of its peoples, its national interests acting in strict conformity with the principles and norms of international law," she stressed.

On Friday, Russia is marking the second anniversary of Crimea’s referendum on reunification with Russia.

Amid a political crisis and the change of power in Ukraine in February 2014, Crimea’s Supreme Council (parliament) and Sevastopol’s City Council adopted on March 11, 2014 Crimea’s and Sevastopol’s declaration of independence. A referendum on reunification with Russia was held on March 16, 2014. With a record-breaking turnout of 80%, the overwhelming majority of Crimea’s and Sevastopol residents, mostly ethic Russians, (96.7 and 95.6%, respectively) voted in favor of ceding from Ukraine to join Russia.

Despite the absolutely convincing results of the referendum, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have been refusing to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.