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Ukraine Moves to Blacklist Le Pen over Crimea Comments


Marine Le Pen, French far-right National Front (FN) party president, member of European Parliament and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, speaks to the media in Paris, Jan. 4, 2017.
Marine Le Pen, French far-right National Front (FN) party president, member of European Parliament and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, speaks to the media in Paris, Jan. 4, 2017.

Ukraine indicated on Wednesday it would bar French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from entering the country after comments she made that appeared to legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Kyiv is nervous about the shifting political landscape in 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has adopted a friendlier tone towards Russia while another French presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, favors lifting sanctions against Moscow.

Relations between Ukraine and Russia soured after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of pro-Russian separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed around 10,000 people, despite a ceasefire being notionally in place.

Alluding to Le Pen, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement: "Making statements that repeat Kremlin propaganda, the French politician shows disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and completely ignores the fundamental principles of international law.

"In this regard, we remind that such statements and actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation will necessarily have consequences, as it was in the case of certain French politicians, who are denied entry to Ukraine," it said.

Le Pen was quoted by French television as saying Russia's annexation of Crimea was not illegal because the Crimean people had chosen to join Russia in a referendum, a position Kyiv vehemently disputes. The referendum was also declared illegal by the United Nations General Assembly.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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