The Verkhovna Rada denounced decision of the Italian deputies to visit the occupied Crimea

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has denounced decision of the Italian deputies to visit the occupied Crimea. The co-chairpersons of the inter-parliamentary friendship group between Italy and Ukraine, Sergii Alekseev has informed.

«I’m deeply passed over by information about the intention of deputies of regional parliaments to visit the occupied Crimea. If information is confirmed, this will be a flagrant violation of international law that must be condemned not only by the authorities of Italy and Ukraine, but also the world community and international institutions», Alekseev said to UNN.

According to parliamentarian, the occupied Crimea is an inherent part of Ukraine. He recalled that the Russian annexation of a peninsula had been achieved with a use of military units and within a violation of fundamental principles of international law, bilateral and multilateral agreements, in particular the UN Charter (1945), the Helsinki Final Act of the CSCE (1975), the Budapest Memorandum (1994), and the Treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation (1997).

Alekseev added that the international community asserting the rules of international law adopted a series of resolutions in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the rejection of the Crimean referendum. The corresponding decisions were taken by the UN General Assembly, the PACE, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the OSCE and the Venice Commission.

«The situation in the occupied Crimea has been recently escalated because the Supreme Court in Russia banned the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people which was recognized by FreedomHouse as an acknowledgement of ethnic minorities’ mass repression. Thus this visit to the peninsula will be meant a recognition by these deputies such policy of Russia», he resumed.

To remind some facts, in late August the chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexey Pushkov said that the number of Italian deputies intends to visit the Russian occupied Crimea.

On September 24, during a visit to New York the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin met with the Italian parliamentary delegation headed by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Italian Chamber of Deputies, Fabrizio Chikitto who confirmed supporting for the territorial integrity of Ukraine.