MFA after Duda’s words on Crimea: "Poland recognises Ukraine’s independence within its internationally recognised borders"
Poland recognises the independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"Poland recognises the independence of Ukraine within its internationally established borders, which have been repeatedly confirmed by the Russian Federation: starting with the Treaty of 19 November 1990, the Budapest Memorandum of 5 December 1994 and the Border Treaty of 28 January 2003," Sikorski said in the context of the statement by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who had earlier questioned the likelihood of de-occupation of Crimea.
In his turn, the head of the Sejm's foreign affairs committee, Pawel Kowal, told RMF.FM that the statements about "Russian Crimea" are nonsense spread by Russian propaganda, and Crimea "has been Russian as long as Bialystok".
"Stories about Russian Crimea are nonsense... Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine, which has regional autonomy, which few people know about, enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution. It is autonomous within Ukraine, has a separate parliament and a separate government. But historically, it has been the place of residence of Crimean Tatars," Koval stressed.
He recalled a recent conversation with the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev and noted that there is a proposal from Ukraine to expand Crimean autonomy.
President Duda's statement on Crimea
As reported, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview on 2 February that he "does not know" whether Ukraine will be able to return Crimea. At the same time, he called the Crimean peninsula "special for historical reasons" because "most of the time it was under Russian control".
Instead, Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, said that Crimea is and will remain Ukrainian, and that the de-occupation of the peninsula is the task of Ukraine and the entire free world, and expressed confidence that this will be done.
