The first meeting of the intersectoral working group, the Council on Cognitive De-occupation of Crimea, was held at the Mission. The meeting was attended by MPs, representatives of government agencies, ministries, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, civil society and experts, journalists and communicators.

The opening remarks were delivered by the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva, who emphasized that cognitive de-occupation “is an element of all the processes we are working on to reintegrate the Crimean peninsula”.

Three topics for discussion were prepared for the first meeting: “Expectations and capabilities of the Council members regarding work and meetings. Formation of the desired results, performance criteria and readiness to implement the Strategy at the levels represented”, “Proposals and opinions on the work of the Council: Priority topics and directions. Development of the Roadmap Structure, Priority Steps of the Action Plan for 2023 and Designing Scenarios for 2024”, “Formation of the Strategy Performance Criteria and Council Tasks for the Second Meeting”.

The creation of thematic sectors was previously proposed. In particular, it was proposed to consolidate the efforts of all those involved, exchange information and develop joint mechanisms.

The main goal of the meeting was to develop a roadmap and action plan to bring the material developed to the tactical level and further implement it. The following factors were discussed: the way of de-occupation of the peninsula and its impact on further cognitive work with the population, the issue of education and the development of special programs for more effective reintegration of our people into the life of their state, cultural factors and their role in cognitive de-occupation, the formation of narratives and a common base of ways to communicate these narratives.

In particular, they emphasized the important role of focusing on the restoration of justice and the rule of law on the liberated Crimean peninsula, especially with regard to the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, who are currently suffering the most from the occupiers’ repression.

Special attention was paid to identifying target audiences that Ukraine needs to work with even before the kinetic liberation of Crimea.

For the second meeting of the Council, the participants outlined the following areas of work: creating thematic sectors that will address specific issues in their areas of activity, collecting ready-made materials on a common platform for all participants, and making relevant changes to the Strategy.

Ministries, state bodies, the public and expert sector, government representatives, and representative bodies of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people expressed their readiness to synergize, share their experience, ways of communication, and consolidate all efforts for the effective implementation of the Strategy.

The second meeting of the Council is to be held before the Crimean Platform Summit.