Slovakia to take part in Crimean Platform summit – MFA
During the sixth Ukrainian-Slovak expert forum, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova presented to her Slovak colleagues the goals and mechanisms of the Crimean Platform's work, informed the event participants about preparations for its inaugural summit in Kyiv on August 23, 2021, and also expressed gratitude to the Slovak side for willingness to take part in it.
"Talking about the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea, Dzhaparova drew attention to the deteriorating human rights situation and the continuing militarization of the peninsula by the Russian occupation administration, which endangers the security of the Black Sea-Azov region," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday on its official website.
. The First Deputy Minister noted that more than 28,000 Ukrainian citizens have been drafted into the ranks of the Russian army since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula, more than 160 criminal cases were opened by the occupation authorities for evading military service.
Dzhaparova also drew the attention of the discussion participants to the forced change in the demographic composition of the Crimean population, recalled other crimes of the Russian occupation administration on the peninsula: suppression of religious freedoms and freedom of speech, oppression of national minorities, politically motivated persecution, enforced disappearances, militarization of education and illegal privatization of Ukrainian state property in Crimea.
It is noted that the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine opened the forum together with her Slovak counterpart, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Ingrid Brockova. The event was attended by Ukrainian and Slovak experts, representatives of government agencies and business.
"Dzhaparova outlined the priorities of Ukraine's foreign policy for 2021, in particular regarding European and Euro-Atlantic integration, energy security and countering Russian aggression. She expressed gratitude to the Slovak side for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine both at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
For her part, Brockova noted that Slovakia supports the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine and does not recognize the violation of its territorial integrity.