Crimeans vote to unite with Russia. "Basescu: The referendum is ILLEGAL. We reject the results"

Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine on Sunday as exit polls suggested 93% of ballots were in favour of joining Russia, in a referendum that most of the world has condemned as illegal, writes The Guardian.

As the results rolled in, they were met with scorn from the Western world.

Barack Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, underlined the White House’s opposition to the referendum in a statement on Sunday afternoon: “We reject the ‘referendum’ that took place today in the Crimean region of Ukraine. This referendum is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution, and the international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law.”

Romania adopted a similar position, as president Basescu announced that “the results will not be recognizes”, according to a press release from the Presidential administration.

“Romania considers the referendum currently underway in Crimea to be illegal and it will not acknowledge the results given that the Ukrainian Constitutional Court established the proceedings to be illegal and the Ukrainian President, Oleksandr Turcinov, signed the annulment decree for Crimea’s independence declaration.

At the same time, a referendum organised under the threat of military occupation cannot live up to democratic standards and will not be legitimated by the international community. The predictable result lacks any legal principles.

We demand the Russian Federation act according to the guidelines in the UN Chart in its relationship with Ukrain and according to the international principles in the Budapest Memorandum. We support Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty and we are for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.”