Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva met with journalists from Africa, in particular from South Africa, Uganda and Benin. The meeting was attended by Mondley Mahanya, Editor-in-Chief of the South African newspaper City Press, Simon Allison, International Correspondent and Editor-in-Chief of the most widely read newspaper The Continent, Agatha Atuhire, investigative journalist, lawyer, consultant and social justice activist from Uganda, and Rachida Hussou, journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Bip radio, a radio station in Benin.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Permanent Representative Denys Chystikov and the Head of the Crimean Platform Support Service Mariia Tomak.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Permanent Representative thanked for the visit and emphasized the importance of establishing a dialogue with the countries of the Global South, in particular in the context of de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea: “We are actively working to overcome Russian myths about Crimea and to form a vision of Ukrainian Crimea in the information space of Asia, Latin America, and the Arab world. We understand that Crimea has a lot in common with the countries of the Global South, given the common colonial experience and cultural component of the Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people of Ukraine.”

During the conversation, Ms. Tasheva spoke about the history of the deportation of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and the challenges faced by Crimean Tatars after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. She drew special attention to the situation with cultural heritage on the occupied peninsula, illegal excavations of archaeological sites, export and theft of museum valuables, exhibits and collections of artifacts.

The guests were interested in the demographic component of the peninsula, the language issue and the state’s efforts to maintain ties with Ukrainian citizens living on the occupied peninsula. “But Russia does not need Crimea with people, Crimea is used by Russia as a military base,” emphasized Tamila Tasheva.

The Permanent Representative briefed the representatives of the African media on the activities of the Mission, plans and developments on de-occupation and reintegration, in particular, emphasized the tourist attractiveness of Crimea and the prospects for developing its potential after de-occupation.

This visit of journalists from Africa was organized as part of their stay in Ukraine from July 12 to 19, 2023, as part of the Connecting Continents project launched by the Public Interest Journalism Lab.

On the eve of this meeting, the Mission also hosted a private meeting of these journalists and their colleagues from other African countries with members of the Ukrainian Parliament, including First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Kornienko, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to PACE, member of the IFU Crimean Platform Maria Mezentseva, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko and MP, member of the IFU Crimean Platform Artur Herasymov.