UA
FR
DEThe Russian Federation is blocking the establishment of a monitoring mission on the territory of the annexed Crimea, despite Ukraine’s attempts to raise and promote this issue since the peninsula’s occupation in 2014. The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Japarova spoke about this on Radio Svoboda air.
“I will explain in short that it is fundamental (and it is quite standard) for Ukraine that any monitoring mission may visit Crimea as a part of Ukraine under Ukrainian legislation. Russia gives up this wording,” she said.
The Deputy Foreign Minister pointed out that the violators of entry regime into the occupied Ukrainian Crimea will try to hide these violations. But it would be impossible to conceal this from the monitoring mission.
“Russia will look for different arguments, declaring that they wait for everybody in the Crimea. We hear this everywhere: ‘Visit us in the Crimea. We will show and tell you everything.’ Studman (Swiss diplomat Gerard Studman – Ed.) went there. FSB led him by the hand to all meetings. And we understand that an adequate perception of the situation is quite difficult to form with the FSB escort. That is why, unfortunately, Russia blocks this,” Japarova stressed.
She also added that this situation means only that the monitoring mission will not arrive soon to the occupied Crimea.
Japarova also announced that classical journalism is impossible in Crimea now. The occupation authorities imprisoned 11 journalists.
“Dozens of media outlets had to leave. And a Crimean phenomenon was the civilian journalism formation, when people who opposed the law violations that took place, particularly the searches in the Crimean Tatars home places, just took phones, recorded videos, and posted it on social media. And such people are also detained. Today, there are 11 such cases. And we, as the Ministry, launch a campaign to support civil journalists, ” the Deputy Foreign Minister stressed.
Bohdan Marusyak
