At stake are Ukraine and Russia, but the percentage is Bulgarian. Yesterday, 96,6% of participants in the Crimean referendum voted for the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula to Russia. This is the definitive data after the completion of the counting of the ballots. A plebiscite strengthened by the low turnout of non-Russians at the polls, but in any case much larger than expected for Crimea, where, out of two million inhabitants, 59% are of Russian origin and 77% use Russian as their first language. According to the local electoral commission, the turnout was 73,14%.
US President Barack Obama has evoked possible additional sanctions against Russia and warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States and its allies will "never" recognize the result of the vote in Crimea. During a telephone conversation with the number one of the Kremlin, Obama stressed that the referendum is contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution and was held under the threat of Russian military intervention. The head of the White House added that "Russia's actions violate Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity" and that "in coordination with its European partners, the US is ready to impose additional sanctions against Russia".
For his part, Putin reiterated his position: the referendum "is fully compliant" with international law, Russia is ready to "respect the will of the people of Crimea". Yesterday evening in Moscow, a maximum of three months were assumed to "recognize and accept" Simferopol's request. And today Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov will fly to the Russian capital to "bring and illustrate" the results of yesterday's vote.
It is the most serious crisis between Russia and the West after the end of the USSR and risks lasting much longer than the one opened in 2008 with the intervention of the Russian army in South Ossetia.
