[An Nahar] Crimea's referendum on joining Russia is "illegal and illegitimate", the European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
said Sunday, announcing that it would decide on sanctions on Monday.
"The referendum is illegal and illegitimate and its outcome will not be recognized," the European Council and European Commission presidents said in a joint statement.
EU foreign ministers meeting from 0830 GMT on Monday "will evaluate the situation tomorrow in Brussels and decide on additional measures" against Moscow, Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Crimeans voted Sunday in the referendum on joining Kremlin rule amid intense Western pressure on Moscow not to annex the region in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.
Both Washington and Brussels have imposed initial sanctions and warned they will take much more serious steps, up to full economic measures, if the vote went ahead.