State Duma welcomes Crimea referendum results - statement
MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma has adopted a statement concerning the situation in Crimea and has reaffirmed its readiness to help promote socioeconomic development and enhance security on the peninsula.
The authors of the document are the chamber's Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, as well as the leaders of all four parliamentary factions -Vladimir Vasilyev (United Russia), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), Gennady Zyuganov (the Communist Party) and Sergei Mironov (A Just Russia Party).
"The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation welcomes the free declaration of the Crimean people's will at the referendum on March 16, 2014 concerning the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation. The members of the State Duma are convinced that the authorities of the Republic of Crimea will be able to maintain peace, interethnic and inter-faith accord and language diversity on this territory," the State Duma said in its statement.
The chamber also pledged to adopt decisions and take measures that would contribute to Crimea's socioeconomic development and stability during a transitional period.
In addition to that, Russian parliamentarians promised to "help ensure the security of all people living on the territory of the Republic of Crimea irrespective of their citizenship, ethnicity, language and faith, as well as observe their legal rights and freedoms."
