Vladimir Putin takes oath for a fifth term during an inauguration ceremony; European representatives are conspicuous by their absence.
Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic had warned that they did not intend to send a representative to Vladimir Putin’s inauguration ceremony.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, believes that EU countries should not be represented there: “After numerous discussions with the Member States, I sent a message to all in saying that in my opinion the right thing to do was not to attend this inauguration My advice was not to do so, and I think most Member States will not be present. right thing to do. Again, Putin is someone condemned by the International Criminal Court At the beginning there was a discussion about Member States – should we attend or not? But for me the position was clear. It would have been very difficult for Ukrainians and many people around the world to understand that we consider Putin, someone convicted by the International Criminal Court for the war in Ukraine, as responsible for the elections that we contest, because they were neither free nor fair, and then to attend the inauguration, that would be a blatant contradiction. So my advice to members was not to attend. And I hope that many of them, most of them, will follow this indication. But each member state is fully sovereign to decide whether to go or not, but I hope most won’t go.”