Crimea

Accessibility links Skip to main content [#content] Skip to main Navigation Skip to Search Search Search toggle search input toggle main navigation Search Search Search Home Economy Human Rights Military Politics About this project More Previous Next 0 Breaking News Previous Next 0 Live Crimea Calendar Select year 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Select month January February March April May June July August September October November December Select day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Does the EU Discriminate Against Crimeans on Visas, as Russian Official Alleges? Aleksey Meshkov Russian Deputy Foreign Minister “ Today, I raised the question about the visa genocide of Crimean residents, and I raised it in a very harsh way because it is not right to make 2.5 million people hostages of their (European) political objectives and demand that they change the citizenship that they had once accepted. This is nonsense.” Source: RT, Nov. 30, 2016. Misleading EU says it does not restrict Crimeans but will not recognize post-annexation Russian passports. The European Union says Crimeans still holding Ukrainian passports are visa eligible. But because it does not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the EU will not give visas to Crimeans who received Russian passports after annexation. Read more... Putin: Crimeans Decided for Themselves to Join Russia Vladimir Putin Russian President “ We know how many active and engaged people there are in Crimea and Sevastopol, people who take an active stand and are genuinely involved in the fate of their region and the fate of Russia as a whole. The best evidence of this was the events of Spring 2014, when people took their future into their own hands and decided themselves how and where they want to live.” Source: official Kremlin website, Oct. 26, 2016 False ...Russia led annexation The "active stand" by the "engaged people" of Crimea through referendum is how Russia annexed the peninsula. But that stand came after Russian military intervention and a referendum that drew worldwide condemnation for being illegitimate. Read more... Crimean-Tatar Language Gets Official Status 'For First Time' Valentina Matviyenko speaker Russia’s upper house of parliament "It was with the return [of Crimea] to the motherland that the Crimean-Tatar language, for the first time, was granted [official] state status on par with -- I reiterate -- on par with Russian." Source: Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the official newspaper of the Russian parliament True ...but that's little solace for many Crimean Tatars Matviyenko is correct that the Crimean-Tatar language was accorded the status of a “state” language for the first time in Crimea after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula. But many Crimean Tatars -- a majority of whom opposed Russia’s takeover of the peninsula -- say this recognition remains largely symbolic, and is outweighed by what many consider systematic repression against the minority ethnic group. Read more... Pro-Kremlin Pop Mogul Denies Praising Crimea Annexation Iosif Prigozhin husband and producer of Russian pop star Valeria “It was a lie when they said that we signed a letter about the annexation of Crimea! There never was such a letter. There has never been anything with Valeria’s or Iosif Prigozhin’s signatures concerning the annexation of Crimea…. We were asked about the referendum in Crimea." Source: Interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service Questionable ... devil's in the details Valeria and Iosif Prigozhin were among more than 500 of the country’s top cultural figures to sign a controversial open letter published March 11, 2014 by Russia’s Culture Ministry expressing “firm” support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “position on Ukraine and Crimea.” Prigozhin denies it meant the two supported Russia's annexation of Crimea. Prigozhin is right that there is no mention of “annexation” in the letter, but the two have been vocal in their support of bringing Crimea into Moscow’s domain. Read more... Back to top Follow Us Info About this project Terms of Use Contact Us © 2017 POLYGRAPH.info All Rights Reserved. XS SM MD LG