What is the Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants?

The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants is the first document in modern history to offer an answer to an attempt by one state to annex territories of another sovereign state in the post-World War II era.

By launching the Crimea Platform and adopting its Joint Declaration, Ukraine and other Crimea Platform participants set a unique precedent in the history of diplomacy. It opens new perspectives for restoring the world order based on the rule of law and strengthens Ukraine's international standing.

The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants consolidates efforts of the international community to counter violations of the basic provisions of international law by the Russian Federation.

How is the Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants unique and what is its historical significance?

1.  The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants establishes the international legal basis for the further process of deoccupation of Crimea. The document establishes the National Office of the Crimea Platform, which will start working on August 23, 2021. According to the provisions of the Presidential Decree and the Declaration, the National Office will offer practical steps for the implementation of the Declaration.

2.  The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants summarizes the available international experience in countering Russian aggression against Ukraine and consolidates international efforts to ensure the further process of deoccupation of Crimea. Previously, over the past seven years, the issue of deoccupation of Crimea at the international level was considered in a fragmented and occasional manner, through texts of separate resolutions or statements of states, groups of states or international organizations, each of them focusing on a narrow subject and limited in scope.

3.  This is the first international legally-based document uniting a coalition of states against an attempt to annex a territory. History shows that until now, cases of annexation of territories (such as the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by the German Empire from 1871 to 1919, the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938) had been resolved only through post-war peace treaties.

The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants proves that Ukraine prevails over Russia's aggressive policy:

Adoption of the Joint Declaration by the International Crimea Platform Participants proves that Russia's attempt to annex Crimea has failed. The non-recognition policy thus reaches its highest level and becomes forever enshrined in a political and legal document.

Participating States reaffirm their common intention to extend sanctions against Russia, as well as to impose new ones. Sanctions against Russia are a joint response by the international community to Russia's unilateral attempts to challenge the world and undermine the international political order.

The Joint Declaration calls things by their names. All Russia’s crimes, including human rights violations, forced militarization of Crimea, violating the freedom of navigation in the Black and Azov Sea region, altering demographics in Crimea and many others, are unanimously condemned by all participants. Revealing facts significantly decreases Russia’s ability to further manipulate wording, statements, statistics, and reports.

The Joint Declaration establishes a network of constant and rapid communication between the representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of all countries participating in the International Crimea Platform (as well as a number of bodies, such as the Office of the International Crimea Platform). This will create additional obstacles to Russia's disinformation efforts and attempts to undermine the unity of platform allies.

Who approves the Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants?

The Joint Declaration of the International Crimea Platform Participants is approved by the Participants represented by Heads of Delegations. All Heads of Delegations are authorized by their respective country's top political leadership to participate in the Summit and adopt the Joint Declaration.

Therefore, it is the number of states which joined the Declaration that matters most, rather than the level of representation for a certain country.

How exactly does the Joint Declaration affect the actual actions of the participating States?

By approving the Declaration, a party takes an obligation to take into account its provisions when making decisions at the national level.

What formats of international cooperation does the Declaration establish?

-    A network of constant and rapid communication between representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (Crimea coordination centers )

-   Cooperation between national parliaments will be determined by parliaments themselves after the Ukrainian parliament addresses them.

-     The International Network of Experts of the Crimea Platform with a view to supporting its activities, and inviting international and national non-governmental organizations, think-tanks and the expert community to contribute to the network’s activities.

-    Use of relevant mechanisms of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, other international and regional organizations to address issues related to the temporary occupation of Crimea.