Kerch bridge should cease to exist - Korynevych in Hague
Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Anton Korynevych emphasized that the Kerch Bridge should cease to exist, as this is the only way to restore freedom of navigation.
He said this in an exclusive comment to an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.
“We hope that the tribunal will hear Ukraine. And again, the demand for the demolition of the so-called Kerch Bridge is absolutely logical, because this is an obstacle to freedom of navigation that continues, and when the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk raise the Ukrainian flag again, this bridge will continue to harm and violate freedom of navigation, so in fact, there is no other way to restore freedom of navigation in these waters. The bridge must cease to exist - this is a fact. And we have been talking about this throughout all these hearings and, of course, during our open statements of the agents. Therefore, I think it is absolutely logical that there is no other way to ensure freedom of navigation,” he said.
He also noted that “in addition to the other issues mentioned, the so-called bridge also contributes to negative environmental impacts and improper maintenance and inadequate compliance with the provisions on the protection of cultural property, in particular, underwater cultural heritage. The same environmental consequences may manifest themselves in decades to come. Therefore, again, this structure, it violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and therefore it must cease to exist. Now the tribunal will make a decision on this claim of Ukraine,” Korynevych said.
According to him, the Ukrainian delegation has done everything to show the arbitration tribunal that Russia has violated the provisions of UNCLOS, in particular in the areas of freedom of navigation, transit passage, protection of the marine environment and underwater cultural heritage.
It is worth noting that oral hearings on the merits of Ukraine's claim against Russia for violation of the right of a coastal state under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea have been completed in the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The parties presented their positions. On October 3, Ukraine made its closing argument, followed by Russia on October 5, which demanded that all of Ukraine's claims be rejected.
As reported by Ukrinform, on September 23, hearings on the merits of Ukraine's claim against Russia for violation of the right of a coastal state under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea began in The Hague. The hearings lasted until October 5.
In May 2017, the first meeting of the tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was held, within which an arbitration tribunal was established to consider the dispute between Ukraine and Russia. The memorandum, i.e., a package of evidence that Russia violates Ukraine's sovereign rights in the Black and Azov Seas and in the Kerch Strait, was submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on February 19, 2018. Russia filed its objections to the International Tribunal's jurisdiction to consider Ukraine's claim against Russia.