The ministry believes that foreign citizens should be guided by Ukrainian law, which allows entry to Crimea only from mainland Ukraine, and by the official position of their state.
Visiting the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula is only allowed if you are traveling from mainland Ukraine. Another way to enter the peninsula is illegal. This was announced by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko on his Facebook page on Wednesday, July 27.
So, the representative of the department commented on the request of the media about the visit of the newly appointed Belgian Foreign Minister Hadji Labib to Crimea in 2021, when he was still a journalist.
Foreign citizens must obey the law of Ukraine and the official position of their state, the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed.
In particular, Belgium does not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia, supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
“The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is engaged in a dialogue with the Belgian side on this issue through diplomatic channels to establish all the circumstances of the trip and make decisions about further bilateral contacts,” Nikolenko stressed.
He also added that Ukraine has positively noted the Belgian government’s assurances about further support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s armed aggression.
“We will continue to coordinate the positions of Ukraine and Belgium in the context of the introduction of new EU sanctions against Russia, as well as the provision of military and financial assistance to Ukraine,” Nikolenko summed up.
It should be noted that Khadzha Labib visited Crimea occupied by Russia in July 2021 as a journalist. He said that he came to the Global Values festival, organized by the Lunacharsky Sevastopol Drama Theater, and published fragments of the performance on social networks.
In an interview with RTBF, Labib said he “needs a Russian visa” to get to the airport in Simferopol, but did not specify how he got to Crimea. He also mentioned that he went “to Russia” (Interviewer: Will the festival in Crimea be the subject of a documentary you are preparing? Labib: Yes, I went to Russia for that…).
As a reminder, the Belgian consulate in Russia has stopped issuing short-term visas, including tourist visas, since July.
Earlier it was also reported that Ukraine bought American M109 howitzers from a private company from Belgium.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.