Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has repeated the organisation’s condemnation of the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Speaking at the Crimea Platform summit in Kiev, she said “We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and we support the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and the Paris summit conclusions that are crucial to ending the military conflict in Donbas”.
The Secretary General reminded the participants of a decision by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in May, which called on Russia to release unlawfully detained and convicted Ukrainian citizens, repeal decisions that curtail the Mejlis and to co-operate with the Council of Europe’s human rights bodies.