It discusses the processes of establishing cooperation with international partners, the peculiarities of the work of experts on human rights violations, economic and security issues of Crimea, coverage of de-occupation among the world community, etc. It is expected that the forum will become an annual one, where the topical issues of de-occupation of Crimea and the results of the network's work will be discussed.
Iaroslav Chornogor, Ph.D., member of the board of non-governmental analytical center “The Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, who is a forum participant, told “The Ukrainian Week” that 7 working groups of the network will work on a daily basis, bringing together experts from leading think tanks and NGOs.
Among the announced topics for discussion are the formation of international support for the Crimean platform and the principles of cooperation with foreign donors and stakeholders. Therefore, presentations were made for experts from more than 30 countries to establish contacts, said the participant expert of the forum: “In general, interest in the format was shown in many countries, including Japan, Argentina and Northern Europe. Experts from the Baltic States, Romania, Poland, Moldova, the United States and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to join the network”.
The international summit of the Crimean Platform is scheduled for August 23, 2021. On the official website of the Foreign Ministry, Dmytro Kuleba said that currently 180 experts from 33 countries have confirmed their participation in the summit.
The response of the Crimean community to the project was summed up at the forum by First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Japarova, who opened the forum and, as Iaroslav Chornogor said, mentioned the publication of photos of graffiti from Simferopol on Facebook, which showed support for the platform in Crimea. “It can be concluded that the Crimean Platform seems to be a high-potential tool on the way to the liberation of the peninsula from Russian occupation, since the Crimeas interpret it as a symbol of the restoration of justice,” – said the historian.
“The expert network should become an effective tool of the Crimean platform in conveying the Ukrainian position to the general public abroad. The real situation in Crimea should be voiced not only by officials, but also by experts and journalists, both Ukrainian and local. For example, “Ukrainian Prism” organized a visit of Romanian journalists to Ukraine in August in order to personally get acquainted with the problems related to the Russian occupation of Crimea and to convey the impressions and information to the citizens of Romania,” – said Iaroslav Chornogor.
Earlier, First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Japarova said that the Crimean platform will have 5 main areas of work: the policy of non-recognition of Russia's attempt to annex Crimea, the expansion and strengthening of international sanctions against Russia, international security, human rights, the impact of occupation on the economy and environment.
