French Parliamentarian’s “Crimean Holidays” Will Be Appreciated by His Colleagues and Voters

During September 17-19 a deputy of the National Assembly of France from the socialist bloc Jérôme Lambert, elected in the III (majority) constituency of Charente, was present in the Crimea, as allegedly “foreign observer” at the so-called “elections to the State Duma”. He turned out to be the only such visitor to the “elections” who had a certain official status in his homeland. The rest of the non-numerous “experts and observers” from third countries, whom Russian propaganda systematically demonstrated at the past “voting”, were persons without public traces of their activity in the countries from where they were brought to the Crimea (Tunisia, Serbia, Venezuela).

Under such conditions, the actions of Deputy Lambert, who told Russian propagandists about allegedly “democratic free voting” and allegedly “no pressure on Crimean residents”, acquired directly the character of specific encroachments on human rights and international law and order in the occupied Crimea. It is characteristic that on the eve of Mr. Lambert’s arrival in the Crimea, the European Parliament, in resolution 2021/2042 (INI), specifically called for the imposition of sanctions on those who ensure the “Duma elections” in Crimea, and the French Foreign Ministry declared the deliberate nullity of this “vote”. By the way, this is the fourth “visit” of Mr. Lambert to the peninsula since 2015.

Therefore, our Association was forced to officially appeal to the leadership of the National Assembly of France, to the relevant parliamentary committees of this institution and to all colleagues of MP Lambert in the faction, as well as to the leadership of the parties that form it. In our presentation, it was noted that the actions of the French parliamentarian Lambert not only contradict the position of France and the European Union and the norms of international law on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It was pointed out that they are also a form of direct assistance to massive violations of human rights, international crimes and racial discrimination of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and other ethnic groups. The Association’s submission has already received the first responses from the French political forces, in particular – from the Socialist Party, which now intend to objectively assess the negative political situation caused by the actions of the “election observer”.

It is noteworthy that MP Lambert has an ambiguous reputation in his constituency and now he has received an “honorable” 533 place out of 577 possible in the rating of French parliamentarians in terms of his level of activity. Therefore, “ARC” additionally informed the voters of Mr. Lambert in Charente, New Aquitaine department, about his constant voyages to the occupied Crimea at the expense of the funds of general criminal groups specializing in human trafficking, instead of the work of this parliamentarian in the interests of French citizens. Our presentation was sent to more than one hundred councils and municipalities of communes, towns and cities of Charente, as well as to the local media, bloggers, activists and journalists of that region and to more than forty local socio-political associations, operating there.