PARIS, April 24. /TASS/. A group of 80 delegates from the European Parliament has sent a letter to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna requesting to declare Chinese Ambassador to Paris Lu Shaye persona non grata over his remarks about the status of former Soviet republics.

"Ambassador Lu Shaye has publicly stated that the former republics of the Soviet Union do not have effective status within the framework of international law," their letter published in Le Monde on Sunday said. "We urge to declare China’s envoy persona non grata over his unacceptable behavior," the lawmakers demanded.

According to them, the Chinese ambassador’s remarks "insulted the history, culture and integrity of the countries."

On Friday on its Twitter page, France’s LCI TV channel quoted an interview with the diplomat who, commenting on Crimea’s status, said that "even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status, as we say, under international law because there is no international accord to concretize their status as a sovereign country.".