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HELSINKI, April 23 (AP) — The three Baltic states strongly condemned comments made by China’s envoy to France who appeared to imply in a recent French television interview that the former Soviet republic was not a sovereign state.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued separate statements late Saturday, calling the statement by China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, unacceptable.
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In a recent interview with the French news channel LCI, he was asked if he considered Crimea to belong to Ukraine.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move condemned by most of the world as illegal.
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“It depends on … how people look at it,” the envoy told the broadcaster.
“There’s history. Crimea belonged to Russia in the first place, didn’t it? It was (Soviet leader Nikita) Khrushchev who gave Crimea to Ukraine during the Soviet era.”
When the channel’s host pointed out that Crimea is part of Ukraine under international law, the Chinese ambassador compared it to the former Soviet republics – including the three Baltic states – which gained control after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 free.
“Regarding international law, even these ex-Soviet states, they don’t have, they don’t have status — how to put it? — that’s valid in international law because there’s no international agreement to solidify their status as sovereign states,” he said .
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted: “If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don’t trust China to make peace in Ukraine, here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea Asia belongs to Russia and our country’s borders have no legal basis.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the Chinese ambassador’s remarks were “wrong and a distortion of history”, while Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics said they were “Totally unacceptable.”
The three Baltic states said Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius would each summon Chinese ambassadors or representatives to explain the envoy’s comments.
After nearly five years of Moscow’s rule, EU and NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained their independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed.
In a separate statement, the French foreign ministry expressed concern over the ambassador’s comments about the former Soviet country, saying: “It is for China to decide whether these comments reflect its position, which we hope is not the case.”
The French foreign ministry said these countries had gained independence “after decades of oppression” and that in Ukraine’s specific case “the entire international community, including China” recognized its borders when it declared independence in 1991, including Crimea.
Chinese ally Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said he does not recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The Kremlin has also made clear that it considers the independence of the Baltic states and their active role in NATO and the European Union a threat to Russia’s security. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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