Crimea Platform Summit: 44 States and Organizations, the Question of Crimea's De-occupation

The founding summit will take place on August 23.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister told a briefing that the first summit of the Crimea Platform has agreed on the participation of 44 states and organizations, including 14 heads of state, government and the EU. 

We explain who will take part, what this platform is, and how the summit will go. 

Full list of summit participants

Dmytro Kuleba
Ukraine's Foreign Minister

I am announcing the full list of participants in the founding summit of the Crimea Platform. You will see what enormous diplomatic work has been done over the past year and a half. We started with a single document of several pages that described the concept of the Crimea Platform. Of course, specific changes are possible in the final days, but they will be minor. So, on August 23, 44 states and international organizations will become founders of the Crimea Platform. These include 14 heads of state, government and the EU.

At the level of presidents, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Slovenia, Finland, as well as the President of the European Council will be represented. 

At the level of prime ministers, Romania, Georgia, Croatia and Sweden will be represented. Switzerland and the Czech Republic will be represented at the level of heads of parliament. 

14 states will be represented at the level of foreign ministers: Turkey, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Two states will be represented by defense ministers: Great Britain and Portugal. The United States will be represented by the president's personal envoy, a member of the government, the Transport Secretary. Norway will be represented by a state secretary of the Foreign Ministry. 

The European Commission will be represented by a vice president, NATO by a deputy secretary general, the Council of Europe by its secretary general, and GUAM by its secretary general. 

Seven states will be represented at the ambassador level: New Zealand, Malta, Japan, Australia, Cyprus, Canada and Greece. 

Thus, together with Ukraine, there will be 45 participants. According to Kuleba, regardless of the level of representation, these countries become founders of the Crimea Platform as states. 

What the Crimea Platform is and what its goals are

The Crimea Platform is the first international coordination format initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, which brings as many countries as possible together to discuss the de-occupation of Crimea. 

The goal of the platform is to unite with other international partners on the issue of Crimea's de-occupation and find a common solution for how to force Russia to leave the peninsula. The issue will be resolved only when the Ukrainian anthem plays there again and Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar flags appear on government buildings. 

After that, a complex and lengthy process of reintegrating the peninsula will begin. The main goals of the Crimea Platform today are:

• returning the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea to the international agenda
• strengthening the international response to Russia's numerous human rights violations in Crimea
• strengthening security in the Black Sea region and overcoming the environmental and economic consequences of the occupation of Crimea

What will happen at the August 23 summit

The Crimea Platform will officially launch during the founding summit on August 23 in Kyiv. The first, official part of the summit will feature speeches by President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, head of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, heads of foreign delegations and experts. 

The participating countries will then sign the Crimea Charter, an important international document in which the signatories once again affirm their non-recognition of the temporary occupation of Crimea. 

The second part of the summit will consist of panel discussions on the following topics:

• the policy of non-recognition of the temporary occupation
• militarization of the Azov-Black Sea region
• ways to reintegrate Crimea through human rights and sustainable development
• restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people

In parallel, a session of the Verkhovna Rada with the participation of Ukraine's parliamentary colleagues from other countries and a summit of first ladies and gentlemen will take place. The latter was initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska. The main topics for discussion are ensuring equal access to medical services and education, and equal opportunities in the field of culture.