Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, representative of Ukraine in the Executive Council of UNESCO, Serhiy Kyslytsia, has said that the violation of UNESCO norms and standards in the occupied Crimea is a serious challenge to the international community and requires the introduction of direct monitoring on the peninsula, according to the official website of the Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at the plenary meeting of the 202nd session of the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris on Monday, the head of the Ukrainian delegation cited facts of flagrant violations of human rights on the territory of the occupied peninsula, noted the importance of uniting the efforts of the international community to address the problem of the illegal occupation by Russia of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

"UNESCO must respond to the dynamic changes of the modern world. The enormous potential of the Organization should be used in full. A litmus test of UNESCO's ability to find adequate answers to the challenges of the 21st century should be the introduction of direct monitoring in Crimea," Kyslytsia said.

In this regard, the representative of Ukraine in the Executive Board of UNESCO expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved in the consultations between Ukraine and the UNESCO Secretariat on the parameters of monitoring.