Lithuanian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the second anniversary of Crimea occupation
Lithuania firmly supports Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We will never recognize the illegal occupation and annexation of the Crimea started two years ago. We will seek the EU and the international sanctions towards the Russian Federation related to the peninsula occupation continue for as long as Russia does not withdraw from the illegally occupied territory. We also express concern on the continuing and increasing number of systematic human rights violations and the crackdown on the media in the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol city after the annexation of the territory. We are worried about repression against the Crimean Tatar minority, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly restrictions. We regret that Crimea famous in the past for respect for different cultures and cultural heritage included in the UNESCO heritage list, after the annexation has become a symbol of Russian Federation’s militarism. Particularly worrying is transformation of the peninsula into a giant military base, because the occupied Crimea is becoming a bridgehead for further Russian Federation’s expansionism and the hotbed of instability in the region.
The international community clearly recognizes that the Russian Federation's military aggression, launched two years ago in the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and currently continued in Eastern Ukraine, is a serious violation of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Budapest Memorandum of 1994. Such action not only breaks the bilateral and multilateral agreements on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also poses a threat to security and stability throughout Europe. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 adopted on 27 March, 2014 confirmed Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemned Russia's actions as infringing the international law, confirmed the Crimea as part of Ukrainian territory and stressed the non-recognition of Crimea "referendum" results.
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