Russia
brought about a million of its citizens to the territory of occupied Crimea. At
the same time, the Russian Federation is trying to artificially change the
demographic situation on the peninsula. This was announced by the Chairman of
the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, during a meeting with the top leadership of
Latvia. The Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia announced the meeting on its Facebook account.
On September 5-6, during the stay of the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov in Latvia, he and the Ambassador of Ukraine Oleksandr Mishchenko met with the President of Latvia Egils Levits and the Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia Inara Murniece.
"Refat Chubarov informed the President and the Speaker of Latvia in detail about the current situation in Crimea regarding the repression and persecution that the occupying authorities apply to the Crimean Tatar population. In particular, in the context of Russia's efforts to artificially change the demographic situation in Crimea by, on the one hand, pushing the Crimean Tatars out of the peninsula, and on the other hand, bringing about 1 million citizens of the Russian Federation to the territory of Crimea", the report says.
According to the Chairman of the Mejlis, Crimean Tatars are subjected to severe repression by the occupying "authorities" of Crimea, about 170 people are behind bars.
"Despite this, the Crimean Tatars hope for the imminent liberation of Crimea by the Ukrainian army as a result of Ukraine's victory in the armed struggle against the Russian aggressor", the message states.
The Latvian side once again emphasized the unchanging position of Latvia regarding the support of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.
"The Head of the Latvian State emphasized that Latvia will help Ukraine and the Ukrainian people till the complete victory of our state over the aggressor country", the embassy reported.
On May 9,
2019, the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia was the first among foreign
parliaments to recognize the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 as
genocide.
During the
meeting with the Speaker of Latvia Inara Murniece, the Ambassador of Ukraine
handed over a copy of the invitation on behalf of the Chairman of the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk and the Speaker of the
Parliament of Croatia Gordan Jandrokovich to participate in the First
Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform, which is jointly organized by
Ukraine and Croatia in Zagreb on October 25, 2022 year. The speaker of the
Parliament of Latvia previously expressed her consent to participate in this
event.
