On Friday 12 March, Estonia organised a high-level virtual meeting at the UN Security Council on Crimea. The discussion was opened and chaired by Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets.
The meeting marked seven years since the Russian Federation unlawfully annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and is a follow-up to the meeting Estonia organised on the same topic at the UN Security Council a year ago. “While a year ago, we had seven co-sponsors, this year, 23 countries supported the meeting – a historic number that sends a clear signal of condemnation to Russia. Many countries care about what is happening in Crimea,” Minister Liimets said.
The human rights situation in Crimea continues to deteriorate. “The pressure by the occupying forces on the Crimean Tatar people and Ukrainians living on the peninsula is becoming increasingly oppressive,” Liimets said. “The aim of this persecution is, on the one hand, to suppress any kind of civil activism and, on the other, to pressure native inhabitants into leaving the peninsula.”
The actions of the Russian Federation have the clear purpose of tilting the demographic situation in Crimea to its favour. According to estimates, thousands of people from Russia have been resettled in Crimea. “It goes without saying that this violates both the Geneva Convention and the UN Charter,” the minister added.
“The increasing military presence of the Russian Federation in Crimea sends a signal of possible danger for the security structure of Europe in general and we cannot remain bystanders in this situation. We call on Russia to withdraw its military forces and equipment from the peninsula, free all political prisoners, and meet its international commitments,” Liimets said.
Estonia’s Ambassador to the UN Sven Jürgenson noted that the mass militarisation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation has devastated the nature and cultural heritage there. Blocking trade routes in the Azov-Black Sea region has had an extensive negative impact on the economy of Ukraine’s coastal regions.
The meeting had a record number of co-sponsors – 23 states from Europe and beyond. They were UN Security Council members France, Ireland, Norway, United Kingdom and United States, as well as UN member states Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
The keynote speaker was Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights in New York Ilze Brands Kehris. Other speakers included President of the Potomac Foundation and independent observer Dr Phillip Karber and Maria Tomak, Coordinator of the Ukrainian NPO Media Initiative on Human Rights, as well as journalist Nariman Memedeminov from Crimea.
In total, representatives of more than 30 UN members made statements, including 12 at foreign minister or deputy foreign minister level.
The meeting was held from a venue in Tallinn and technical support was provided by the Estonian company Global Virtual Solutions.
The event can be watched on the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Estonia’s statement in full: https://vm.ee/en/news/opening-words-minister-foreign-affairs-republic-estonia-he-ms-eva-maria-liimets-high-level
Photos (Marko Mumm): https://www.flickr.com/photos/estonian-foreign-ministry/albums/72157718594047863