Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva met with students of Ukrainian higher education institutions as part of the Generation of Change project. The meeting was organized with the assistance of the Center for Transatlantic Dialogue, one of the focuses of which is to promote constructive dialogue between Ukrainian officials and university students, as well as to engage young people in modern socio-political processes in the country.

During this informal meeting, the participants discussed the situation of Crimean Tatars under the occupation of the peninsula and full-scale war, challenges and prospects for post-war reintegration of Crimea, punishment of criminals and the possibility of restoring peaceful life on the peninsula. The students spoke about their motivation and interest in the topic of occupied Crimea, and were interested in the future involvement of young people in the reintegration of the peninsula.

Tamila Tasheva familiarized the guests with the work of the Crimean Platform’s Representative Office in the context of the full-scale invasion of Russia, in particular, the information policy and the development of the state’s priority steps after de-occupation. The students were actively interested in transitional justice, amnesty and lustration, as well as the expulsion of Russians who illegally moved to Crimea during the occupation.

The Permanent Representative also spoke about the development of the concept of cognitive de-occupation of the peninsula: “Cognitive de-occupation is one of the most difficult issues, because it is relatively easy to establish, so to speak, mechanical processes, such as the resumption of the work of state bodies. However, it is much more difficult to work with the minds of people who have lived in racist narratives for 9 years, especially with children who grew up in conditions of total propaganda.”

The participants of the meeting also paid special attention to Ukraine’s work with the countries of the Global South and the importance of spreading the topic of occupied Crimea to these countries. They also touched upon the topic of education and noted that the history of the Crimean peninsula is not well covered in the educational program.

“The Crimean peninsula and its history should be a cross-cutting theme in the school curriculum. The Crimean Khanate was the same state entity on the territory of modern Ukraine as the Galicia-Volyn principality. We memorize and know the names of all the princes, but we do not know the names of the Crimean khans who did great things,” Tamila Tasheva said.