European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has stated that no sham referenda will change Europe’s stance on Ukraine and pledged to continue supporting the invaded nation.

This comes after the people of Donestk and Luhansk announced they want a referendum on joining Russia, which is set to take place over the next few days.

“To be clear. No sham referenda will change Europe’s stance on Ukraine and its territorial integrity. Nor will it change the fact that it was Russia that invaded sovereign Ukraine,” EP President Metsola stated. 

“Europe stands with Ukraine,” she reiterated.

The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) were recognised as independent states by Vladimir Putin just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in February.

Two other regions not yet recognised as independent by Russia, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, also came out saying that they plan to hold their own referendum on the matter.

If the referenda go through, this could massively raise the chances of a direct military stand-off between Russia and the NATO military alliance. 

This could prove to be detrimental to EU states, and could potentially bring fears of World War 3 into reality.

What do you make of Metsola’s stance?