Prague hosts Crimean Platform's second parliamentary summit.

Prague hosted the Crimean Platform's second parliamentary summit on Oct.

24, with the participation of delegations from around 40 countries and the Ukrainian Parliament's chairman, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Czech Press Agency reported. In their joint statement, the participants of the summit condemned Moscow's attempts at annexing Ukraine's territory and the human rights and humanitarian law violations committed against the Ukrainian people. In particular, the parliamentarians denounced the "political persecution in the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula that has been ongoing since 2014 and that targets mostly Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars."

They also declared commitment to supporting Ukraine's efforts at restoring its sovereignty over the occupied peninsula, its EU aspirations, and President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-part peace formula. "All participants reaffirmed the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine! All condemned Russia's illegal aggression!

And all declared their continued support for Ukraine!" Stefanchuk wrote on social media. "I thank every speaker, every country for their comprehensive assistance to Ukraine and solidarity with the Ukrainian people," he added.

Marketa Pekarova, the speaker of the Czech Parliament's lower house, said that the summit sent a clear message to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that the participating countries will continue backing Ukraine until the complete liberation of its territories. "There is no doubt that Crimea is Ukraine.

Crimea is Ukrainian, and we want to achieve its liberation, as well as the liberation of other parts of Ukraine where the fight is ongoing," Pekarova said, according to the Czech Press Agency. Zelensky, who joined the event via videoconference, said that the parliamentary summit "makes our Crimea Platform exceptionally strong by adding the energy of the democratic world." "We are moving towards achieving our goal more actively than ever, for nearly a decade of Russian hybrid and then full-scale aggression," the president said.

"It is in the Black Sea region, specifically in the situation surrounding Crimea, where the effectiveness of our tactics is working best," he noted, adding that achieving full fire control over Crimea is "just a matter of time." Ukrainian forces have struck significant blows to the Russian military and navy operating in occupied Crimea and the Black Sea in recent months. A Ukrainian missile attack hit the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on Sept.

22, killing dozens of Russian officers. The Crimean Platform, established in 2021, is aimed at consolidating international efforts for the liberation of Russian-occupied Crimea and at raising awareness of human rights violations committed by Moscow on the peninsula. The Crimean Platform's first parliamentary summit was held in October 2022 in Zagreb, Croatia, bringing together delegations from over 50 countries.

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News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press.

He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.