EU condemns illegal annexation of Crimea and further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity

Eight years on from the violent, illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russia, the European Union remains steadfast in its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, according to a declaration by EU High Representative Josep Borrell on behalf of the European Union. The illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation is commemorated in Ukraine on 26 February.

“Further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have now taken place with Russia’s recent unprovoked military attack against Ukraine and its decision to recognise the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities,” says Borrell.

The European Union reiterated that it does not recognise and continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law. 

“The increasing militarisation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation, including multiple military exercises and the construction of warships, continues to have a negative impact on the security situation in the Black Sea region,” says the statement. 

Furthermore, the EU calls Russia to stop changing the demographic structure on the peninsula by the resettlement of its own civilian population to the peninsula and by persecution of Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians.

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Press release