On February 26, as part of the events dedicated to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea, The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea organized the Forum “26-2-14: The War Began in Crimea”. The purpose of the event was to remind and emphasize that Russia’s war against Ukraine began in late February 2014 with the occupation of Crimea, has been going on for 10 years, and only with the liberation and reintegration of Crimea will the war be over.
The Forum was opened by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In his online statement, he emphasized: “Wars are truly over when the evil that gave rise to them is extinguished. That is why the sense of justice and the desire for peace must go together. This requires, in particular, not forgetting about Crimea and fighting for it”.
The opening ceremony of the Forum was also attended by the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva; Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk; Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk; Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov; His Beatitude Epifaniy, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; and Martin Harris, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine.
In her statement to the participants and guests of the Forum, Tamila Tasheva underlined: “This is not only an opportunity to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in this struggle, but also an occasion to highlight the problem again, to unite everyone in the struggle for a free Crimea.”
Martin Harris noted the resistance of those citizens who are demonstrating resistance to the occupation of Crimea. “We remember and are inspired by their courage, their desire for freedom, and their commitment to Ukrainian Crimea,” — the Ambassador emphasized.
The Forum included three panel discussions, where participants spoke about a number of topical issues: how the “Crimean context” is included in the Peace Formula; why the de-occupation of the peninsula is not only about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also about much more global aspects; what Ukraine is doing to reintegrate the peninsula today and what are the priorities in the conditions of temporary lack of control; why Crimea’s past is a question of its future? The speakers of the discussion were government officials, members of the Ukrainian Parliament, diplomats, historians, national and international experts.
In particular, the first panel discussion “Crimea and the Peace Formula. Why the de-occupation of the peninsula is not only about the territorial integrity of Ukraine” was attended by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak, in the format of a video message; the First Deputy Chief of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Kornienko; Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Dmytro Klimenkov; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi; Editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert Service, Business Ukraine magazine publisher Peter Dickinson; the Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the International Relations Program at the Temple University in Japan James D.J. Brown, who addressed the speech online; Alina Frolova, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Center for Defense Strategies, concluded the discussion. The panel was moderated by TV presenter and journalist Ksenia Smyrnova.
The discussion began with a video message from the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak, who reminded that the Russian Federation systematically imprisons Crimean Tatars and other residents of the temporarily occupied peninsula. At the same time, many Crimean Tatars are defending Ukraine with weapons in their hands, including Isa Akayev. Andrii Yermak emphasized the fundamental importance of today’s date, as it was on February 26, 2014, that Crimean residents demonstrated their support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine at a rally.
“As long as the occupation continues, neither Ukraine, nor Europe, nor any region of the world will be safe,” — the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine noted.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi addressed the guests of the Forum. He emphasized the successes of the Crimean Platform and its achievements in attracting a large number of partners from around the world.
“The Russian Federation has destroyed the world order and respect for international law and the fundamental principles set forth in the UN Charter have been lost. Without resolving the problem of Russia, there will be no peace not only in our country, not only in Europe, but there will be no peace in general. The Peace Formula is about a just peace not only in Ukraine, but also in the whole world,” — Mykola Tochytskyi emphasized while speaking.
Peter Dickinson in his speech noted, while the world was ready to put up with Russia’s intimidation, Ukraine confidently began to resist. Today we see that thanks to the confident actions of Ukrainian forces, Russia has already lost more than a quarter of its Black Sea Fleet: “Ukraine is demonstrating that it is possible to fight Russia, that it is possible to resist it. It has started to make progress in the Black Sea. In recent months, Russia has withdrawn most of its ships from the Black Sea. They realize that they have suffered a military defeat,” — reminded Peter Dickinson.
The next panel discussion “Crimea of the future. What Ukraine is doing to reintegrate the peninsula today and what are the priorities in the absence of control” began with a keynote speech by the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva. In her speech, she emphasized the importance of reintegration measures in the de-occupied territories: “We are confident that after the de-occupation of Crimea, after the return of the Ukrainian state, stability and security to Crimea, after the implementation of all the reforms that have been implemented throughout Ukraine, we will be able to build a new Crimea.”
Ms. Tasheva also thanked the servicemen, Ukrainian citizens who still remain in the occupied Crimea and political prisoners held by Russia for their relentless struggle for a free Crimea, the integrity and independence of Ukraine.
The second panel discussion was devoted to the problems of reintegration, the importance of planning reintegration measures and ways to implement them from today on.
The discussion was moderated by Ukrainian international journalist Natalia Humeniuk. The speakers were: Oleksandra Azarkhina, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine; Ihor Ponochovnyi, Head of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol; Alyona Luneva, Advocacy Director of the ZMINA Human Rights Center; Roman Hryshchuk, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament; Dmytro Teperik, Expert on security and stability, cognitive de-occupation of Crimea, Partnership for Resilience of Ukraine Foundation.
In particular, during her speech, Oleksandra Azarkhina spoke about the system of measures aimed at restoring business operations in the de-occupied territories and the importance of attracting investors for the further development of the region: “While we are not doing enough, we really want to do more. In fact, all we can offer to a Crimean who is in the occupied territory is the future, unlike the occupiers, who can only offer the past.”
International expert Dmytro Teperik noted: “We are trying to find parallels in other countries, but there are a limited number of such examples that can be applied, whose experience can be used for the de-occupation of Crimea. So, we need intellectual courage to develop a purely Ukrainian approach, together with international partners and friends,” and cited Estonia’s experience in dealing with the consequences of the occupation. He noted that we cannot predict Russia’s behavior in response to these changes, but we can strengthen Ukraine by minimizing internal risks.
The third panel discussion entitled “Why is Crimea’s past a matter of its future? A conversation about the true face of Crimea” was opened by Rory Finnin, Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. He spoke about the main reasons for the problem of Crimea’s perception in the West, including the long-standing historical events of the past that still affect this perception today: “The problem is the Russian narratives about Crimea that have taken root in both Ukrainian and global society. Our task today is cognitive de-occupation. If it happens in Ukraine, it can happen in Europe and the whole world,” — Finnin noted.
In addition to him, the discussion was joined by: Oleksandr Halenko, historian, orientalist, one of the leading Ukrainian Turkologists, lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics, former head of the Center for the Study of Black Sea Civilizations at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Martin-Olexander Kyslyi, historian, researcher, PhD, lecturer at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, participant of the Initiative for Crimean Tatars project; Mavile Khalil, journalist and psychologist; Metropolitan Klyment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea and Simferopol
In particular, journalist and psychologist Mavile Khalil noted that if we compare the number of victims of the 20th century, the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 will look like an ordinary tragedy of the 20th century, because we know how many millions of Ukrainians died from the Holodomor, how many Jews were tortured during the Holocaust.
“Until we realize that Crimea is not just a resort, it is a native land, including Ukrainians, until we change this attitude and until we agree on this, we will not be able to offer the West other narratives about Crimea that will counteract the Russian narratives,”— said Ms. Khalil.
The panel discussion was moderated by Maria Tomak, the Head of the Crimea Platform’s Support Service.
The discussion was focused on the past and present of Crimea, the impact of all the events on the future, and the crucial importance of taking all these aspects into account in further planning of activities and strategies.
The Forum was attended by more than 150 people, including Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and other representatives of Diplomatic Missions from the countries of EU, NATO and the Global South, members of the Ukrainian Parliament, representatives of the Ukrainian government, clergy, national and international experts, military personnel, human rights activists and journalists. All participants noted the importance of this event in the context of the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea. The Forum “26-2-14: The War Began in Crimea” was not only a reminder to the general public that the Crimean issues have not been postponed or forgotten, not only a presentation of the problems and their solutions on the agenda, but also an opportunity to exchange experience with colleagues, international experts, representatives of different industries and different levels of influence.
We believe that the exchange of views and experiences that took place during the discussions will have an impact on the further implementation of strategies and reforms regarding the Crimean peninsula, which will certainly lead to its recovery and development after de-occupation.
Read more about the Forum’s opening ceremony and panel discussions:
Opening ceremony: http://surl.li/raekv
Panel 1: http://surl.li/raelg
Panel 2: http://surl.li/raelq
Panel 3: http://surl.li/raema
The Forum was broadcasted on the web pages of the Mission, the Crimea Platform, DIM TV channel and media partners’ information resources.
The recording of the online broadcast is available here: http://surl.li/raemo
The Forum was organized by The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Crimea Platform, the State Enterprise “Multimedia Broadcasting Platform of Ukraine”, Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States..
Media partners of the event: TV channels and news agencies: “DOM, Krym.Realii, Chornomorka, Qirim Media, Radio Kuresh, the first Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, CrimeaDaily, Suspilne.Krym, Voice of Crimea, CEMAAT. Crimean public media.