From Zmina:
"Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a classic neo-colonial war for the enslavement of an entire people
On November 17–18, the third international conference, Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South brought together Ukrainian and international experts, journalists, human rights defenders, and cultural figures... Speaking at the Crimea Global conference, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya warns that the world faces “Super-Yalta 2” unless it confronts Russia’s diplomatic manipulations. He reveals the ultimate irony: Russia, the champion of the border inviolability principle at the 1975 Helsinki Summit, is now the party violating it. More critically, he notes that the very foundations of the United Nations were conceived in Yalta, Crimea – a place that Russia uses today for colonial dominance.
Good morning, esteemed colleagues, distinguished ambassadors.
[…] Despite nearly 12 years of temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and almost four years of full-scale Russian aggression, the world has remained committed to supporting Ukraine’s aspirations to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.
It is important to us that interest in Ukraine resonates not only in Europe or North America – we are known and supported by countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America...
For Russia, Crimea is a resource, a resource for imperial ambitions, military power in the Black Sea and Mediterranean, a resource for seizing new territories and attempting to return to a 19th-century world where a state’s greatness is supposedly determined not by the dignified lives of its citizens or technological development, but by nuclear weapons and the capacity to enslave people.
That’s why I would like to emphasize: Russia’s war against Ukraine is not simply a war for territory. This is a classic neo-colonial war, where the world’s largest country by area is fighting not for kilometers, not even for thousands of kilometers, but for the enslavement of an entire people.
For the Kremlin, Ukrainians are a resource for restoring an imaginary empire and further subjugation of peoples who once belonged to the imperial core. This is the mentality of past centuries, the same mentality from which colonized peoples suffered for many centuries and against which they fought.
The entire world understands that colonial empires are in the past, except for Russia...
The Kremlin also views its international partners as resources. We see how citizens of African, Asian, and Latin American states who come to Russia – as Ms. Iryna Mudra [Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine] mentioned – for education or work are recruited into the Russian army and defense sector. Those who manage to survive and are captured ask their governments to return them home. But it is better to prevent people from getting into such situations in the first place.
Hopefully, the media and experts who are here will bring home the truth to their citizens. Life is more valuable than money. Russia treats foreigners the same way it treats its own citizens—as expendable material...
Yalta was not only in 1945 a place of very dangerous agreements. I would like to remind you that in 1975, a summit was held in Helsinki, following which the Helsinki Final Act was signed.
One of the principles behind that treaty is the principle of the inviolability of borders. However, I would like to remind you that, in my opinion, it is no coincidence that the Helsinki summit was referred to as “Super-Yalta” by The New York Times in 1975. It will be a revelation for many of you that it was Moscow that insisted on the inclusion of the principle of the inviolability of borders in the Helsinki Final Act.
This is an evil irony. The inviolability of borders was championed by Moscow at a time when many Western countries opposed this principle being included in the Helsinki Final Act, when some countries were also indifferent to whether this principle should be in the document.
It was laid down by Moscow and later violated by Moscow, which once again demonstrates that Moscow cannot be trusted to adhere to its word, that what Moscow signs cannot be trusted, and that policies and actions must be based solely on a sober assessment of Moscow’s actions.
Helsinki became a symbolic city not only because the Final Act was signed there in 1975, but also because, in 2019, as demanded by many European countries, despite fierce resistance and protests from Ukraine and the Baltic states, the Russian Federation was readmitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In a few weeks, an OSCEі ministerial-level summit will take place in Helsinki, and it is our duty to ensure that this meeting does not become Super-Yalta 2.
Therefore, I believe that the discussion that will unfold today at the [Crimea Global] conference should help politicians, experts, and journalists navigate the world of propaganda and fakes that dominate to this day.
Thank you very much."
No comments:
Post a Comment