Disinfo: The EU continues to pursue a discriminatory policy with the Crimea Platform

Summary

The provocative nature of the Ukrainian leadership’s idea of holding the so-called “Crimea Platform” “summit” was recorded, despite the fact that the question of the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation was closed in March 2014. In this regard, attention is drawn to the fact that the European Union continues to pursue a discriminatory policy against inhabitants of the peninsula.

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv deteriorated after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, which led to the return of the Crimea to the bosom of Russia, and to the outbreak of armed conflict in the Donbas region (southeast of Ukraine) between Kyiv on the one hand and the "unrecognised" Donetsk and Luhansk republics on the other, which demanded more cultural and economic autonomy.

Disproof

An emerging disinformation narrative in response to the Crimea Platform Summit, a high-level international conference held on August 2021 that was initiated by Ukraine and focused on Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, while claiming that the foundation of the DPR and LPR came as a response to the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv painted as a coup d'état.

Although Russia attempted to disguise its military occupation of Crimea with a hastily organised sham referendum in March 2014, there is no international recognition of Russia's actions. Several major countries and international organisations have overwhelmingly rejected this charade, including in multiple UN General Assembly resolutions and EU statements. European Council President Charles Michel emphasised during the first Crimea Platform Summit the “EU's unwavering stance: we do not and will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia."

Contrary to the claim mentioned, the EU does not pursue a policy of discrimination against the inhabitants of the peninsula but follows a policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol which includes a set of restrictive measures against only the entities and selected individuals responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The Crimea Platform is aimed at drawing international attention not only to Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula but also to human rights abuses, which Crimean residents have been suffering since 2014, but also to discuss ways to mobilise a more effective international response to Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine that no international body recognises

Furthermore, what happened in the Donbas area is a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces and far away from being an internal conflict.

The involvement of Russian personnel and equipment in the creation of the DPR and LPR has been well documented already for years. The destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea has been constantly condemned by the Council of the European Union and have led to restrictive measures against Russia since 2014.

See related disinformation claims alleging that the Crimea Platform was a failure; that serious countries neglected the Crimea Platform because they know Crimea is Russian; that the Crimea Platform gathered without Crimean representatives who chose to be Russian; or that Crimea has never been Ukraine; or that Political disagreements are behind the halt of the NATO-Russia Council; or that people of Crimea legally decided their fate in 2014

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  • Reported in: Issue 258
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 08/09/2021
  • Article language(s) Arabic, French
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Crimea, illegal annexation, War in Ukraine, Ukrainian statehood, Ukraine, Occupation, Anti-Russian, Sovereignty, Manipulated elections/referendum, Referendum, Military, Civil war, Euromaidan, Coup, LNR, DNR, Donbas, Donetsk
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Disproof

The Americans have never shot deliberately at the crowd at the airport. On 16 August, there was an incident when a crowd of Afghans trying to leave the country broke into the airfield, interfering with takeoff. In this situation, the military fired several shots into the air.

At least five people were reported killed, although a witness said to Reuters it was unclear if they had been shot or killed in a stampede. A US official told Reuters two gunmen had been killed by US forces after they appeared to fire into the crowd.

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The claim is false, part of a long-term effort by the Kremlin to whitewash and instrumentalise the history of the country, and in this case specifically the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan.

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Contrary to the claim, the West does not hinder Georgia from normalising relations with Russia. Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia because the latter attacked Georgia in 2008, occupying 20% of the country and recognising the occupied regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as independent states. Many international organisations condemned the further occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, see e.g. the CSCE statement here and the European Parliament's declaration.