Ukrainian Foreign Minister called Donbas and Crimea the most dangerous ‘gray areas’ in Europe
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, during a meeting with the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe drew attention to the inadmissibility of the existence of "gray zones" on the European continent, whose inhabitants are de facto outside the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights, as reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The Ukrainian Foreign Minister noted that the Donbas and the Crimea are now 'the hottest gray areas' and noted that the Russian-annexed Crimea and the situation in the Donbas clearly demonstrate how one state is able deliberately and purposefully destroy the system of human rights protection on the continent," the message says.
Klimkin noted the importance of the decision made by Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 3rd regarding the situation in the Crimea and Sevastopol and stressed that it should serve the Council of Europe as a "way to the restoration of all human rights violated in the Crimea" and is another step towards the "de-occupation of the peninsula."
In his speech, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister thanked the Council of Europe for the large-scale program to promote reforms in Ukraine, which is implemented with the direct and substantial support of the European Union.
On May 3, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a "comprehensive decision" on the situation in the Crimea. It contains a number of requirements for Russia.