The Permanent Representative participated in the panel discussion Crimea: Political and Cultural Necessity, held in the framework of the VII international festival Bouquet Kyiv Stage. Refat Chubarov and Nariman Dzhelial also participated in the discussion, which Yevhen Bondarenko, Head of the Mission’s Information Support Department, moderated.

In their opening remarks, the panelists expressed gratitude and paid tribute to the military defending Ukraine in the Security and Defense Forces.

The Permanent Representative emphasized that Crimea is the historical land of three indigenous peoples of Ukraine: Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks. Tamila Tasheva noted that Crimea is now a military base used by the Russian Federation to attack other territories of Ukraine and spread its colonialist practices and human rights violations.

The Permanent Representative also emphasized that Crimea plays a massive role in global processes. Thanks to the Security and Defense Forces in the Black Sea, we were able to unblock the grain corridor, which means that Ukraine can now supply products. In addition, she emphasized the priority steps of the state after de-occupation, which the Mission is actively working on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During the discussion, Tamila Tasheva also emphasized the resistance of Ukrainian citizens to the occupation:

“Even though the occupiers are trying to destroy Crimea, it is alive. We are monitoring the trials, and there are more than a thousand cases under the so-called article “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” against our people who raise Ukrainian flags and write appeals against the occupiers in public places, which is resistance. Crimea is alive and waiting to return.”

Refat Chubarov thanked for the event and emphasized that Crimea is the homeland of the Crimean Tatar people and an integral part of the Ukrainian state. In his turn, Nariman Dzhelial drew attention to the fact that if Ukraine wants to be a sovereign European state, it cannot give up Crimea and its people, who, from the first day of occupation, have been linking all their hopes for a better life and freedom to the restoration of Ukrainian control over Crimea.