Distinguished guests,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on this important topic. There are three points I would like to make:
First, it has been 723 days since the illegal annexation of Crimea occurred. Almost two years has passed and Crimea has not yet been returned to the sovereign state of Ukraine. The Russian aim is obviously to keep Crimea off the international agenda, let two more years pass or, for that matter ten years and hope that this will simply become a fact of life.Let me be clear: the illegal annexation of Crimea cannot become a status quo. This cannot be written in our history books as something which just happened. Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine is the greatest challenge to the European security order.Russian actions are beyond an aggression on Ukraine. It constitutes a threat to the right of making national policy choices of all countries’ in Russia’s neighbourhood.Therefore, it makes our response and our course of action all the more important. Time passes and other urgent security issues arise on our agenda. But we cannot accept what Russia has done. Läs talet
