While all major events in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have been banned this year for fear of attacks (see also video above), Austria’s foreign minister pledged further support to war-torn Ukraine on Independence Day on Wednesday. “The illegal annexation of Crimea is the original sin of the Russian war against Ukraine,” Schallenberg said at the online summit of the so-called Crimean platform on Tuesday.
During Creamannexation of 2014, “we didn’t quite understand that this was just the tip of the iceberg of Russia’s destructive and aggressive plans against Ukraine,” Schallenberg admitted. Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has now gone on for six months, is “something we haven’t seen in Europe since World War II”. The foreign minister demanded that there be no impunity for atrocities and war crimes.
“Unprecedented Humanitarian Aid”
“For 181 days, Russia mocked international law and our security system,” Schallenberg said in his speech, assuring Austria would continue to support the Ukrainian people. The red-white-red minister also spoke of “unprecedented humanitarian, budgetary and military aid to Kiev”. Schallenberg strongly condemned the Russian militarization of Crimea and the violations of human and fundamental rights, such as forced conscription in the Russian army and the repression of minorities such as the Crimean Tatars.
In total, more than 50 senior politicians from Europe, Asia, America and Africa participate in the online summit on the repatriation of the Black Sea Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Among them are, in addition to Schallenberg, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Source: Krone
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