Thanks to joint initiative of the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership and the European Union Center of Yerevan, in the conversations with Armenian journalists visiting Estonia, many officials were expressing concern that if the incident happened in Crimea remains without consequences, and Russia feels that it can make the troops enter and remain unpunished, all of these can be continued, and perhaps RF would even want to return Baltic states. In this regard, Aravot.am requested Hannes Rumm, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia, to refer to the following claim contained in the official message on the phone conversation between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, on March 19: “The speakers referred to the situation created in Crimea after the referendum, and state that it is another example of exercising the right to self-determination of people through the free expression of will.” In response, Hannes Rumm said, “It was not a free referendum. It does not conform to the norms of the international law. I think that the referendum result will not be recognized by the European Union.” With this regard, the Head of European Commission Representation in Estonia drew an expressive parallel, “in 1940s Soviet troops entered the territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and later they told that they had held elections. No election was held, it was a seizure, even though there are still quite historians and academicians in Russia who still insist that it was the good will of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to become a member of the Soviet Union.”
Anna Israelyan
Tallin
