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On February 23, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis took part in the high level virtual side-event of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council on human rights situation in Crimea and Sevastopol, illegally annexed by the Russian Federation.

Minister Landsbergis stressed that Russia is responsible for the systemic repressive policies towards human rights defenders, journalists, civil society, in particular, Crimean Tatars, and called on  international community to continue political pressure on Russia requiring to fully comply with international human rights standards, release all Ukrainian citizens who remain illegally in Russia’s custody and ensure unimpeded access of international human rights monitoring missions in Crimea.

„Decision of the European Court of Human Rights that Russia exercised its effective control over Crimea as of 27 February 2014 dispels the myth so rigorously maintained by Russia about the “peaceful and legitimate accession” of Crimea. It is a strong legal argument, which proves the fact of the unprovoked military aggression by Russia in Crimea. Further actions should be taken to ensure accountability of Russia for numerous human rights violations in the peninsula“, the Minister said.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Latvia, Poland and Turkey, the Acting Assistance Secretary of the United States of America and the Vice-Minister of the Foreign Affairs of Georgia also took part in the event. During the discussion, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Geneva, diplomats from Germany, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Moldova, Sweden and Bulgaria, as well as the representatives of the non-governmental organizations took the floor. They unanimously stressed the need to keep the issue of illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol among the priorities of international political agenda.

Minister of Foreign Affaris of Lithuania participated in the discussion from Kyiv, where he currently is on a working visit.