Crimean referendum was ‘valid’ and ‘democratic’ – Silvio Berlusconi

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called the 2014 Crimea referendum that led to Crimea’s reunification with Russia “democratic and valid.” He also called Russian President Vladimir Putin the best leader in the world.

“87 percent of Crimean citizens voted, 93 percent voted to cede from Ukraine, voted to be an autonomous republic, voted to become part of the Russian Federation,” Berlusconi said in a speech in northern Italy broadcast on television, as cited by the Reuters.

The former Italian leader noted that people of Crimea are happy that they are not subject to the current Ukrainian government, which was not democratically elected, but came to power through a coup .... http://www.rt.com