During the meeting of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, the joint initiative with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Lithuanian Seimas to approve the Statement of the Committees on the Day of Countering the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol was supported (document)

The joint statement condemned the ongoing occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, human rights abuses in Crimea, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and condemned the Russian Federation's persecution of Crimean Tatars, Crimean indigenous peoples and ethnic Ukrainians, as well as active attempts to artificially change the demographic composition in the Crimea.

In the joint Statement, members of the two Committees expressed concern about the militarization of the Crimean peninsula, the increase in the number of Russian military units and equipment, the forced conscription of Ukrainian citizens into the Russian army, and call on the Russian Federation to end the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and to fully implement UN General Assembly Resolutions on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Lithuanian parliamentarians welcome attempts by Ukrainian government and non-governmental sector to create international Crimean platform and call on international partners to continue to pursue a policy of non-recognition of illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and exert political, diplomatic and economic pressure on the Russian Federation.

Text of the Statement:

The Committees on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,

Marking February 26, the Day of Resistance to Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol,

Paying tribute to the courage and heroism displayed in defence of the territorial integrity of Ukraine by Ukrainian citizens living in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,

Remembering those who went missing in Crimea, in particular, activists who were opposing the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and were kidnapped or disappeared in the first years of the occupation of Crimea,

Recalling Resolution 68/262 Territorial integrity of Ukraine adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 27 March 2014, hereby the UN General Assembly affirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, underscoring the invalidity of the referendum organised under control of the Russian Federation in Crimea on 16 March 2014,

Stressing that the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol has been worsening since 2014, as reflected in the annual resolutions of the UN General Assembly, and deteriorating further in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, in the places of detention and in relation to the restriction of freedom of movement imposed on Ukrainian citizens living in Crimea,

Condemning the action by the Russian Federation, related to prosecution of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea for exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms and systematic persecution of the representatives of Crimean Tatars, indigenous people of the Crimean Peninsula; keeping in mind that more than 100 Ukrainian citizens, the majority of whom are Crimean Tatars,  have been persecuted  for political motives in Crimea or Russia,

Deploring the fact that Russia continues to actively attempt to forcibly change the demographic composition of the Crimean Peninsula, compelling Ukrainians to take the Russian citizenship, applying discriminatory measures against the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Muslims and Jehovah Witnesses, and depriving the population of the access to education in the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages,

Concerned about the militarization of the Crimean Peninsula, which is manifested in the increased number of Russian troops and vehicles, in compulsory conscription of Ukrainian citizens to the Russian Army, as well as in the militarization of public spaces and the educational process to the detriment of children, and recalling the Resolution of the UN General Assembly on the Problem of the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine,

Continue to condemn the ongoing occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and the undermining of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as international law and order as a result of the action by the Russian Federation;

Urge the Russian Federation to end the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and to fully implement the resolutions of the UN General Assembly on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and on Crimea and Sevastopol; to stop the militarization of the Crimean Peninsula, discriminatory policies against Crimea’s ethnic minorities and politically motivated persecutions; to remove the ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and to ensure the effective investigation into cases of missing persons in Crimea;

Welcome the efforts of the Ukrainian Government and non-governmental sector to launch the International Crimean Platform with the ultimate goal of the de-occupation of Crimea, invite international partners to join this initiative, and provide all necessary support for the activities of the Platform;

Call on the international partners to continue implementing non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and to keep exercising the political, diplomatic and economic pressure on the Russian Federation until Crimea is de-occupied, as well as not to enter into agreements with the Russian Federation and any other moves that can support the policy of the legitimization of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol;

Urge the international community to make every effort, including implementation of restrictive measures against individuals and entities involved, to stop the ongoing human rights violations in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Zygimantas Pavilionis, Chairman of the Committee On Foreign Affairs, The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania

Oleksandr Merezhko, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine