Bulgarian President Rumen Radev twice called the Crimean peninsula Russian, and also assessed the possibility of enmity between Sofia and Moscow. It is reported by TASS…
For the first time, Radev spoke about the ownership of the peninsula at the election debates with his main opponent, Anastas Gerdzhikov, on the air of national television and radio. He stressed the importance of dialogue in relations between countries. Radev noted that pragmatism is necessary in foreign policy, and the policy of introducing new anti-Russian sanctions over Crimea has no effect. To a clarifying question about the ownership of the peninsula, the Bulgarian president replied that “Crimea is Russian at the moment”.
After Radev’s statement on Crimea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine summoned the Bulgarian ambassador to Kiev Kostadin Kodzhabashev. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian side conveyed to the diplomat the position of the republic on the incorrectness and inadmissibility of the statements of the Bulgarian leader and demanded to refute the words about the ownership of Crimea.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that such statements do not contribute to the development of good-neighborly relations between Ukraine and Bulgaria and are at odds with the official position of Sofia. It is noted that Kodzhabashev assured Bulgaria of the unchanging position of Bulgaria to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Radev dealt a blow to the friendly relations between Ukraine and Bulgaria by declaring the Russian peninsula.
The European Commission, in response to a request to comment on Radev’s words, also recalled the solidarity position of the EU countries, which is that Crimea is Ukrainian.
Commenting on Kiev’s demand to clarify its words about the ownership of the peninsula, Radev reiterated that Crimea is currently Russian, such are the political realities, and this issue is clear.
At the same time, he stressed that the “annexation” of Crimea by Russia in 2014 is a violation of international law, and his position on this issue remains unchanged.
Commenting on the situation, a member of the Federation Council Alexei Pushkov drew attention to the fact that in the 21st century the law of the strong has actually replaced international law.
The senator recalled the words of former US President George W. Bush, who said that he had “not heard” about international law, and noted that his successors Barack Obama and Donald Trump did not have much different attitudes towards international law.
Pushkov added that “in any case, there are a hundred times more reasons for the Crimea to be part of Russia than the Falkland Islands are part of Britain.”
On November 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy imposed sanctions against 28 Russian intelligence officers. The corresponding package of restrictions was adopted by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of the republic back in August.
The sanctions include, inter alia, blocking assets, restricting trade operations, stopping the transit of resources, preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine, stopping the fulfillment of economic obligations, and prohibiting participation in privatization and leasing of state property.
According to the ministry, the persons indicated in the sanctions list were engaged in planting “Russian narratives” and assisted the “occupation power” in the territory of Crimea and Donbass.
The Deputy Representative of Russia to the United Nations (UN) Gennady Kuzmin, during a speech at a meeting of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, said that life has confirmed the correctness of the Crimeans who voted in 2014 in a referendum on the accession of the peninsula to Russia.
He drew attention to the fact that “unlike today’s Ukraine, in Crimea, residential areas are not fired from guns, people are not burned alive, journalists are not killed, Nazi marches are not carried out, and they are not forbidden to speak their native language.”
Crimea joined Russia in March 2014 following a referendum. The overwhelming majority of countries in the world, including Moscow’s partners in the Eurasian Union, do not recognize the change in ownership of the peninsula. Afghanistan, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, Sudan and Palestine supported Russia’s position.
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