European Union Statement – United Nations Arria-formula meeting on the 5th Anniversary of the Russian Occupation of Crimea

The EU will mark the 5th anniversary of the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russian Federation on 18 March 2019. On this anniversary the EU will express publicly its strong, clear and united position in the Foreign Affairs Council as well as in public statements.

The EU has repeatedly stated that it does not and will not recognise this violation of international law. We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine, supporting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The illegal annexation remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of all States. This issue is hence not only a serious bilateral or European concern, but a global one.

We would like to remind in this regard that by the actions against Ukraine Russia violated several agreements – notably the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, but also the Paris Charter (1990), Commonwealth of Independent States Founding Agreement (1991), Budapest Memorandum (1994), the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership (1997) and the Azov Treaty (2003) – to name a few.

The EU continues and will continue to support Ukraine's resilience. This includes cooperation on countering hybrid threats and support to Ukraine's cyber resilience. Ukraine's successes in its reform process and the implementation of the Association Agreement - the most comprehensive agreement the EU has with a third country - will make Ukraine's governance, economy and society stronger. The EU is Ukraine's partner in this, and has since 2014 committed over EUR 14 billion in grants and loans to cooperation with Ukraine.

Moreover, the EU will keep systematically raising any recognized breach in international law by Russia both publicly and in bilateral contacts with the aim to help to prevent, in the long term, violations related to the illegal annexation and seek justice to its victims. As a strong supporter of effective multilateralism, the EU will keep raising the concerns over the current situation in international organizations – the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and of course the United Nations – where will strive for implementation of the comprehensive non-recognition policy in these fora.

This also involves Ukrainian judicial actions in the European Court of Human Rights, in arbitration courts, the International Court of Justice etc. We welcome Ukraine’s efforts to continue to seek justice using international legal instruments and courts and underline the importance of respect for and implementation of judicial decisions.

The increasing Russian militarization of Crimea and Sevastopol over this period has had a negative impact to the security situation in the whole Black Sea region, and we will continue to flag these developments. Russia's actions on 25 November 2018, and the restrictions to the unhindered and free passage of all ships through the Kerch Strait, are violations of international law.

Today the EU also added 8 persons to the individual sanctions list. The listed persons were involved in the actions that led to the detention of Ukrainian seamen and the seizure of vessels in the Kerch Strait on 25 November 2018. The publication of this decision is in parallel with similar announcements made by our transatlantic partners.

Since the illegal annexation by the Russian Federation, the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula has significantly deteriorated.

Residents of the peninsula face systematic restrictions of fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression, religion or belief and association and the right to peaceful assembly. The rights of the Crimean Tatars have been particularly targeted.

In accordance with UN General Assembly resolution 73/263 of 22 December 2018, it is crucial that the regional and international human rights monitoring mechanisms as well as the non-governmental human rights organisations have unimpeded access to Crimea and Sevastopol.

All human rights violations must be investigated and international human rights actors must have full, free and unrestricted access to the peninsula. Journalists, human rights defenders and defence lawyers should be able to work independently and without undue interference and intimidation.

The EU has repeatedly raised these issues publicly and bilaterally with Russia. We keep calling for the immediate release of Oleh Sentsov, Edem Bekirov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Mykola Semena, Volodymyr Balukh, Emir-Usein Kuku, and all those who have been detained in the Crimean peninsula and sentenced in breach of international law.

We welcome the work of Ukrainian human rights organisations and the Crimean prosecutor working at the moment from mainland Ukraine to record the human rights violations.

The EU would also like to seize this occasion to flag that Russia must take measures to improve the environmental situation in Crimea, which has considerably worsened.