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Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima and Head of the Latvian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), confirmed Latvia’s strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Crimea, while visiting the occupied Crimean peninsula in Ukraine. Ukraine can count on the support of Latvia, and we will continue the policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea, emphasised Lībiņa-Egnere.
“We are pleased that Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that the Ukrainian people, when crossing the border, are not faced with additional difficulties in this already difficult situation,” said I. Lībiņa-Egnere at the Kalanchak border crossing point between Ukraine and the occupied Crimean territory.
At the invitation of Mariia Mezentseva, Head of the PACE Ukrainian delegation, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima visited the Kherson region, bordering Crimea, to meet Crimean Tatars and local residents together with parliamentarians from Poland, Georgia and the Czech Republic. Parliamentarians also met with Sergiy Kozyr, Head of the Kherson Regional Council, Oleksandr Samoylenko, Head of Kherson Regional State Administration, as well as Anton Korynevych, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Kherson’s leadership thanked Latvia, including the PACE Latvian delegation, for its active position, strongly advocating for Ukraine’s territorial integrity as well as support for Crimean Tatars.
Deputy Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere stressed that the Baltic+ Group set up within the framework of the PACE will continue to provide support to Ukraine. The Group aims to remind PACE and its members about the organisation's fundamental principles, to fortify a non-recognition policy towards the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, as well as to express persistent condemnation of Russian military occupation of Eastern Ukraine, and parts of Georgia and Moldova.
During the visit to the Kalanchak border-crossing point, the members of the delegation also participated in the tree planting campaign initiated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
PACE is a statutory body of the Council of Europe focusing on the protection of human rights, pluralist democracy and rule of law, promotion of the understanding and development of European cultural identity and diversity, and seeking solutions to the problems facing European society, as well as strengthening democratic stability in Europe by supporting political, legislative, and constitutional reforms.
Deputy Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere is in Ukraine until 26 August to attend the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform and the ceremonial events in honour of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.
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Saeima Press Service