SIMFEROPOL, December 17 (RIA Novosti) - Residents in Ukraine's Black Sea autonomy of Crimea overwhelming voted at a people's referendum against the country's accession to NATO, the referendum's election commission said Sunday.
The People's Assembly of Ukraine's largely Russian-speaking Crimea organized December 16 an unofficial voting on the country's possible membership in the alliance, with 1,200 street polling stations set up throughout the region. The organizers said the vote had no legal consequences.
According to the commission, 897,000 people, or 58.2% of Crimea's registered voters, participated in the referendum, with 885,400 persons, or 98.7%, voting against NATO.
