Crimea upcoming referendum illegal: OSCE chair

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the upcoming referendum in Ukraine’s Crimea region is illegal.

In a press release published on Tuesday, Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chair Didier Burkhalter said Crimea’s planned referendum on March 16 is illegal, since it is in contradiction with the country’s constitution.

“For any referendum regarding the degree of autonomy or sovereignty of the Crimea to be legitimate, it would need to be based on the Ukrainian constitution and would have to be in line with international law,” Burkhalter, whose country is the present chair of the Vienna-based OSCE, said.

He also ruled out any OSCE’s observation mission for the referendum “as the basic criteria for a decision in a constitutional framework were not met.”

On Monday, the parliament of Crimea officially invited observers from the OSCE to monitor the territory’s upcoming referendum on joining Russia.

“An invitation has been handed to Switzerland, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the OSCE, for representatives of the member countries and of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to monitor voting at the… referendum in the Crimea,” sources in the Crimean legislature told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile, Crimean lawmakers endorsed a declaration of independence, which was required by law to hold the referendum.

The Crimean parliament voted on Tuesday for the region to declare itself an independent state if its residents agree to split off from Ukraine and join neighboring Russia in the referendum.

Russia has welcomed the Crimean assembly’s declaration of independence from Ukraine, describing it as an “absolutely lawful” measure.