Foreign Ministers of six countries made a statement on the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people

The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland expressed support for the Crimean Tatar people in their struggle for their rights and stressed the inviolability of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders and political independence.

This is stated in a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the six countries on the 76th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people, Ukrinform reports.

Diplomats noted that the tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people, which occurred on May 18, 1944, when the Soviet penal authorities criminally deported the Crimean Tatar people from the territory of its historical residence – Crimea, was repeated in 2014 when the Russian Federation captured and illegally tried to annex Crimea, a part of Ukraine.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland noted that it is no coincidence that Russia, which glorifies Stalin’s totalitarian regime, continues its criminal policy in the 21st century in the temporarily occupied Crimea, that forced thousands of Crimean Tatars, an indigenous people of Crimea, to leave their homes and go to mainland Ukraine.

“We honor the memory of the many innocent victims of Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. We express our support for the Crimean Tatar people in their struggle for their rights. We emphasize the inviolability of sovereignty, territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders, and political independence of Ukraine. We condemn Russia’s aggressive policy towards Ukraine and new repressions against the Crimean Tatar people,” the ministers said.

Natalia Tolub