The crisis in Ukraine could pose a threat to EU states with a considerable Russian minority population, such as the Baltic States, warned an EU official.

The President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Henri Malosse, stated his concerns, adding that the protection of Russian-speaking minorities in Ukraine is an "artificial pretext for invasion", Euractiv quotes.

Malosse believes that the way this crisis is handled now will be key for the future of other states with similar ethnic denominations.

According to the EU official, the European Commission had made "critical mistakes" in the Eastern Partnership framework, which had given President Putin pretexts to intervene.

"By giving the impression that by getting closer to the EU, the customs union with Russia was excluded, we gave Russia a pretext which was instrumentalised. We were wrong and clumsy", he stated.

The EESC President warned against making comparisons with the Kosovo case, since there had been a civil war and atrocities committed by the Serb forces against the Muslim population. In the case of Ukraine, there has been no violence directed at the Russian-speaking minority.