PART 2 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECT OF THE OCCUPATION OF ARC AND THE CITY OF SEVASTOPOL 2.1.4. The conclusion of the Venice Commission on ‘Whether the decision adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine on the organization of a referendum on whether to become a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or to restore the 1992 Constitution, 18 complies with the constitutional principles’ No. and date of adoption: No. 762 / 2014 CDL-AD(2014)002, March 21, 2014 Key conclusions: The Ukrainian Constitution stipulates the integrity of the state and prohibits any local referendums on secession from Ukraine. This prohibition applies to the ARC and the Crimean Constitution prohibits the VR of the ARC to hold such a referendum. In addition, the situation in Crimea precluded holding the referendum in accordance with the European democratic standards. Any referendum on the sta- tus of any territory should be preceded by serious negotiations of all interested par- ties. There were no such negotiations. The translation of the Conclusion into Russian is available on the website of the Platform for strategic judicial protection19. 2.1.5. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 68/262. The Territorial Integrity of Ukraine20 Date of signature: 27 March 2014. Content: The General Assembly conR rmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. The Assembly called on all the states to desist and refrain from actions aimed at partial or complete disrupting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. It underscored that the 16 March 2014 referendum held in the ARC and the city of Sevastopol is invalid and cannot be relied upon to change the status of these territories in any way. The General Assembly called on states, internation- al organizations, and specialized agencies not to recognize any change in the status of Crimea or the city of Sevastopol based on the above-mentioned referendum, and to refrain from actions or dealings that might be interpreted as such. 2.1.6. The Resolution of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary 21 Assembly 1988 (2014)1 Date of signature: 27 March 2014. Content: The Parliamentary Assembly rea7 rms its strong support for the independ- ence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Assembly considers that 18 http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pd7 le=CDL-AD(2014)002-e 19 http://precedent.in.ua/ru/index.php?id=1405671700 20 http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/262&referer=/english/&Lang=R 21 http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewPDF.asp?FileID=20873&lang=en 22