The actions of the European Union in creating obstacles to Crimean residents getting visas are a deliberate infringement on the rights of the peninsula’s residents, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
"In this situation, the statements regularly issued by various state and public-political figures from the EU countries that are "concerned" about alleged violations of human rights, primarily the rights of Crimean Tatars in Crimea and Sevastopol, smack of demagoguery. At the same time the EU, by creating obstacles to issuing visas to Crimean residents, is deliberately carrying out a policy of actual infringement of the peninsula's residents’ right to freedom of movement," Lukashevich said.
"We believe that this, in essence, is an unjustified collective punishment of the peninsula’s population, about the destiny and rights of which the EU "cares" so much," RIA Novosti cited the message.
"During contacts with representatives of the European Union and its member states, we regularly draw their attention to this conspicuous violation of Crimean residents’ right to freedom of movement, caused by the hypocritical policy of our partners. However, unfortunately, so far we have not seen any progress in their attitude," Lukashevich said.
