18/05/2018 Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Eerik-Niiles Kross (Estonia, ALDE) and Dzhema Grozdanova (Bulgaria, EPP/CD), have today expressed their deep concern at the opening of a bridge over the Kerch Strait between Russia and illegally-annexed Crimea.
“The construction of this bridge, without the consent of Ukraine, violates its territorial integrity and sovereignty and only further isolates the residents of Crimea from those in the rest of Ukraine,” said the co-rapporteurs. “Instead of building bridges between people, this action by the Russian Federation drives them further apart. We can therefore only deplore the opening of this bridge and reiterate the Assembly’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”