“The former Soviet countries are not sovereign” – the Baltic states are outraged by China’s statement

The Baltic states have reacted indignantly to statements by the Chinese ambassador to France that ex-Soviet republics are not necessarily sovereign. Because of the “completely unacceptable” comments, he had summoned the chargé d’affaires to the Chinese embassy in Riga for Monday, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter Saturday night. This step has been coordinated with Lithuania and Estonia. “We expect a statement from the Chinese side and a complete withdrawal of this statement,” continued the chief diplomat of the Baltic EU and NATO country.

In an interview on French television, Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye previously questioned the sovereignty of states that were once part of the Soviet Union. When asked if Crimea belongs to Ukraine, the diplomat said that it all depends on how you look at this issue. When the moderator interjected that the Black Sea Peninsula, occupied by Russia since 2014, is part of Ukraine under international law, Shaye replied: “Under international law, even these countries of the former Soviet Union have no effective status because there is no international agreement is. to establish their status in order to materialize a sovereign country.”

According to a spokeswoman, the French Foreign Ministry took note of the statements “with dismay”. “We express our full solidarity with all our stricken allies and partners who have won long-awaited independence after decades of oppression.” China must now clarify whether the ambassador’s statement reflects the Chinese position.

“The statements made by the Chinese diplomat are incomprehensible and we condemn such statements to an independent and sovereign country,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

His Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on Twitter of a recording of the interview: “If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don’t trust China to ‘bring peace to Ukraine’, here’s a Chinese ambassador claiming that Crimea is Russian and the borders of our countries have no legal basis.”

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were alternately occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany during World War II. After the end of the war, the three small Baltic states in northeastern Europe became Soviet republics against their will for decades. They only regained their independence in 1991 and have belonged to the EU and NATO since 2004.

(yam/sda/dpa)