Russian annexation of Crimea is legitimate, Le Pen claims

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s nationalist Front National party, said in a television interview broadcast on Jan. 3 that Russia’s annexation of Crimea was legitimate, as well as the following referendum for Crimean residents to join the Russian Federation. “I absolutely disagree that it was an illegal annexation: a referendum was held and the residents of Crimea chose to rejoin Russia,” she said, as reported by the independent.co.uk news site.

Russian Armed Forces invaded the Crimean peninsula in late February 2014 after former President Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the EuroMaidan revolt. The Russian government then organized a referendum on March 16, claiming 95% of residents voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation. Western governments never recognized the referendum, considering the annexation to be illegal and imposing sanctions against those involved.

Zenon Zawada: Of all the nationalist leaders to emerge in West, Le Pen is the first to explicitly approve Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, which occurred by military force. Le Pen has also called for the end of the European Union and has been investigated for accepting funds from Russian sources.

We don’t expect her extreme position to be adopted by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and we don’t expect the U.S. government will ever legally recognize the Crimean annexation. However, Le Pen is among the leading candidates for the French presidency in April and her victory would be a far greater triumph for Putin than the election of Trump, who won’t want to look like he’s caving into Putin.