Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening that he had asked the Chinese charge d’affaires to meet at the Foreign Ministry on Monday to explain statements which, on the Latvian side, are described as totally unacceptable.

– We expect an explanation and a complete withdrawal of this statement from China, says the Foreign Minister of Latvia, a member country of both the EU and NATO.

television interview

It was in an interview on French television that Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye questioned the sovereignty of countries that were once part of the long-dissolved Soviet Union.

The presenter pointed out that the Crimean peninsula, which was occupied by Russia in 2014, is still part of Ukraine according to international conventions.

To this, Lu countered that international legal rules state that the countries of the former Soviet Union have no established position since there is no international agreement that concretizes their status.

Completely incomprehensible

– The statement of the Chinese diplomat is completely incomprehensible, and we condemn such remarks directed against an independent and independent country, says Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

In Lithuania, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted: If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic countries don’t trust China’s ability to broker a peace in Ukraine, note that here we have an ambassador Chinese who claim that Crimea is Russian and that our borders have no legal status.

The French Foreign Ministry said it took note of the statement with regret. A spokesperson says it is up to China to clarify whether this is an official Chinese view.