EU Foreign Ministers describe comments by China's Ambassador to Paris as totally unacceptable
Recent remarks by China's ambassador to Paris about the sovereignty of former Soviet Union countries such as Ukraine are totally unacceptable, several European Union foreign ministers said on Monday ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in Luxembourg, Reuters and Agerpres report.
Interviewed by French TV station LCI, Ambassador Lu Shaye said the former USSR countries "have no effective status in international law because there is no international agreement to concretise their status as sovereign countries". On the Crimean peninsula, a Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, he said, "It depends on how we perceive this issue. There is history. Crimea was originally Russia's. It was Khrushchev who gave Crimea to Ukraine during the Soviet Union."
"This is totally unacceptable. I hope that this ambassador's bosses will put things in order," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on arrival at the FAC meeting.
His Lithuanian counterpart, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said remarks like those of Ambassador Lu Shaye were ''completely unacceptable'' and said the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former USSR republics - would summon the Chinese ambassadors in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius for clarification.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he disagreed with the Chinese ambassador's comments, while his Luxembourg counterpart Jean Asselborn described the Chinese diplomat's remarks as "nonsense", stressing that efforts should be made to calm the situation.
France, Ukraine and the Baltic states expressed their astonishment at Lu Shaye's comments.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI) reacted to statements by the Chinese ambassador to France, who denied the sovereignty of the former Soviet countries. The remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France are "absolutely unacceptable" and the Moldovan authorities are waiting for clarification of the position "from the Chinese authorities", said the communication adviser to the foreign minister, Igor Zaharov.
Asked whether Lu's statement represents China's official position, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman replied that Beijing respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and supports the objectives and principles of the United Nations Charter.
