The Ukrainian delegation has sent a letter to the PACE chairman Pedro Agramunt, in which it expressed its anger over the visit of a group of French parliamentarians, led by National Assembly deputy, former French Minister of Transport Thierry Mariani, to Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta. This is the second visit by French parliamentarians to Crimea, the previous one was made last summer.
The head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, the coordinator of the parliamentary group on relations with the French parliament, Leonid Slutsky, admitted that the visit was initiated by the State Duma and the Russian Peace Foundation. According to him, the French delegation that visited Crimea suffered unprecedented pressure from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which recommended that the trip be cancelled: "No one cancelled it. In addition, after the visit, our colleagues urged Western Europe parliamentarians to visit Crimea and Sevastopol actively, and to tell the populations of their countries about the current realities in these regions."
"Our colleagues, just like all of us, were impressed by the visit to the 'Krasnoye' memorial complex, where thousands of people were tortured during the Nazi occupation of Crimea. Our colleagues compared the current reincarnation of Nazism in some European countries with attempts to falsify the history of that time and the current realities in the political and informational space of Europe," he said.
The French MPs met with the leadership of Crimea, spoke with locals and tourists, took part in celebrations on the occasion of Navy Day in Sevastopol and visited a local synagogue. "They paid attention to two topics that have been discussed in Europe over the past months – the Crimean Tatars and the Jewish community of Crimea and Sevastopol," he explained.
Just like last year, they visited the largest French military cemetery outside of the French Republic. This is the cemetery from the times of the Crimean War in Sevastopol, which, contrary to the claims of the Ukrainian media, is in perfect condition thanks to the Sevastopol authorities.
"Western Europe will learn the truth after such visits. The main objective of such visits is for not only the political establishment of Western Europe, but also the broad masses of the population, thousands of people to learn the truth about what is happening today in Russian Crimea and Sevastopol," Slutsky concluded.
The head of the French delegation, MP of the National Assembly from the 'Republicans' party, co-chairman of 'Franco-Russian Dialogue' association, Thierry Mariani, drew attention to three points.
First: "The visit took place, even though some people tried to prevent it – certain measures were taken against us, against me personally, since I'm also a member of the Council of Europe and PACE. There were also attempts to influence us at party level, and we even received death threats. But the French parliament became the only parliament in the world that sent so many of its members to Crimea to understand what's happening there," he said.
Second: "The situation in Crimea is normal. Just like in any other country, political leaders are trying to control its territory and ensure the welfare of their people. People are more concerned about their vacations than security issues. And all those who describe Crimea as an occupied territory must visit it personally to understand what is really happening there," he noted.
Third: "This time we paid more attention to the issues of minorities and prisoners. A year ago we were told that Crimea was annexed by Russia against the will of a specific minority that lives there. So during our visit we asked questions about the Tatar population, the Jewish population, prisoners, missing persons. I must say that the answers that we heard satisfied us – Crimea has chosen its own path, made its own decision, this decision was made by the majority of the population, which expressed its will. The entire international community is aware of this. Right now it would be better to completely resolve this issue, so that we could deal with the problems of Donbass, for example. It is necessary to accept this reality already. It is the only way to normalize relations with Russia."
