BRUSSELS, May 11 (Reuters) - The European Union said it would not recognise the result of a referendum on self-rule held by pro-Moscow rebels in east Ukraine on Sunday, calling it illegal.

"The so-called referenda in ... parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions were illegal and we do not recognise the outcome. Those who organised the referenda have no democratic legitimacy," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said in e-mailed comments to Reuters.

She said holding the referendum ran counter to the objectives of an agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the United States last month aimed at defusing the Ukraine crisis.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

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