Parliament of Estonia welcomes establishment of Crimea Platform

“We truly hope that the initiative will be an opportunity for like-minded countries and international organisations, as well as the democratic community to express their support to the platform, especially in view of the inaugural Crimea Platform Summit to be held on 23 August 2021 in Kyiv, Ukraine,” reads the statement.

The ultimate strategic goal of the Crimea Platform mechanism is ensuring the de-occupation of Crimea, the Riigikogu’s press service noted.

“We believe that the situation in Crimea needs to be kept in focus by the international community, and the issue of ensuring balanced regional security and territorial integrity of Ukraine in its internationally recognised borders must be considered of the highest importance,” Estonian lawmakers stressed.

The Estonia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea, the violations of human rights, especially the oppression of national minorities and racial discrimination of the Crimean Tatar People, and the disregard for the international law demonstrated by the Russian Federation.

The Group members reiterated once again their unwavering support to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and its commitment to peaceful conflict resolution.

For better coordination of involvement, the Estonia-Ukraine Parliamentary Group decided to be the point of contact for the parliamentary dimension of the Crimea Platform.

We MPs also extended their congratulations to the people of Ukraine on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.

The statement was signed by all 22 Group members.

The Crimea Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupation regime, and achieve the de-occupation of Crimea.

The first Crimea Platform summit is scheduled for August 23, 2021.

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