Ukraine Urges UN To Ban Crimean Delegates From Attending Minority Forum - Official

Ukraine sent a letter to the UN Secretariat asking the organization to ban Crimean representatives from participating in the 12th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues, held under the aegis of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Anastasia Gridchina, the head of Crimea's Ukrainian community, told Sputnik

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2019) Ukraine sent a letter to the UN Secretariat asking the organization to ban Crimean representatives from participating in the 12th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues, held under the aegis of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Anastasia Gridchina, the head of Crimea's Ukrainian community, told Sputnik.

The Forum on Minority Issues is taking place from November 28-29. Representatives of the Crimean Tatar minority were denied registration for the event, and the leader of Crimea's Bulgarian community, Ivan Abazher, was denied a visa by the Swiss embassy, thereby preventing him from attending as well. The Ukrainian delegation has twice sabotaged the address of a Russian lawmaker from Crimea, Ruslan Balbek.

"Before the event, the Ukrainian side sent a letter to the UN Secretariat urging the organization to prevent Crimean representatives from taking part in the forum," Gridchina, who is participating in the session in Switzerland, said.

Ukraine motivates its stance by saying that Crimean delegates can participate in international events only as members of the Ukrainian delegation, according to Gridchina.

Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014 after 96 percent of the peninsula's voters backed reunification in a referendum. The results have not been recognized by both Kiev and the majority of Western countries. Russia has repeatedly said the vote was held in compliance with international law.