Klitschko meets members of the European Parliament who attend the inaugural summit of Crimea Platform
23.08.2021
In Kyiv, the mayor of Ukraine’s capital city Vitali Klitschko had a meeting with members of the European Parliament who travelled to Ukraine to attend the inauguration of the Crimea Platform Summit.
“Ukraine highly appreciates the support of the European Parliament and a high level of attention our international partners pay to the annexation of Crimea. Thank you very much for coming to Kyiv to visit the Crimea Platform Summit. This initiative helps keep the issue of the annexed Crimea in the focus of the European Union institutions and the European public. The illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia not only violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine but also destroyed the structure of the European security,” noted the mayor of Ukraine’s capital.
He also reminded them about the grave violations of human rights in Crimea by the Russian occupying authorities, the main victims of which are Crimean Tartars and Ukrainians. Klitschko also expressed concerns by the fact that Russia transforms Crimea into a giant military base and that poses a major threat to European stability.
“Crimea is a part of a larger problem of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Over the past seven years of war, we have lost thousands of our soldiers and civilians. Our economic losses are huge. But we are determined to continue our fight for liberty which is also a fight for peace in Europe,” said Klitschko and added that the best answer to the imperial ambitions of Russia is Ukraine’s economic growth and the greater well-being of our citizens.
“We all want to see Ukraine a full member of the European Union that lives according to the European values and standards of living. We do everything to make Kyiv a European capital city. Today Kyiv leads the way in bringing about positive change,” underlined Vitali Klitschko.
He told the MEPs how the Kyiv authority has been transforming the city since 2014. Also, as the chair of the Association of Ukrainian Cities Klitschko referred to the issue of local self-governance and decentralisation reform.
Michael Gahler, a MEP and a member of the European People’s Party Group stressed that Europe pays close attention to the progress of decentralisation in Ukraine. “Decentralisation is a key component for the successful development. We support the empowerment of local governments with direct authority. Rolling back the reform and attempts to build the power vertically on a local level prevent the citizens from exercising their right to impact the local decision-making processes and deprive the reform of its true meaning,” he underlined.
Vitali Klitschko also stated that he is a leader of the UDAR political party which has the status of the European People’s Party observer member seeks to strengthen its cooperation with the European parliament and further networking with its European partners.