Russian media reported that German politicians are visiting the Crimea
A delegation of German politicians and businessmen arrived in annexed Crimea to make a first-hand assessment of the current situation there, as reported by RIA Novosti news agency citing the “head of the German national-cultural center of the peninsula,” Yuriy Gempel.
According to Gempel, the delegation consists of ten people, mainly businessmen who work with real estate and regional-level politicians, deputies from the Left party. The delegation plans to get acquainted with the sights of Yalta and Sevastopol. They also plan to meet in Simferopol with the "head of the Crimean parliament," Vladimir Konstantinov.
"Every delegation from Germany that visits Crimea behaves very cautiously at first. They arrive with the conviction that the military practically runs the place, that there are infringements on the basis of nationality. However, as a rule, when they leave the Crimea, they completely change their opinion," Gempel said.
On March 19, the Russian media announce that a delegation of about twenty people arrived in the Crimea, including members of the European Parliament, as well as politicians from the European Union, Serbia, the CIS and Latin America.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated that "the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) should prepare and submit for consideration to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine a list of officials from the European Parliament, as well as politicians from the countries of the European Union, the CIS and Latin America who, according to Russian media, arrived for a three-day visit to annexed Crimea."
Later, the SBU stated that four Serbian citizens and one Czech citizen illegally entered the annexed Crimea.