“It is an address, not a juridical document”

The Council of Veneto, a north-eastern region of Italy with Venice as administrative center, resolved on May 18 to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and called upon the Italian government to lift sanctions against that country. The Corriere della Sera reports that, out of the total 51 Veneto councilors, 27 voted for and 9 against the resolution. The resolution authorizes the regional government to advise the Italy’s Cabinet and parliament to revise, if necessary, relations with the European Union. Reportedly, the document was put to the vote on the initiative of 25 Veneto councilors, including leaders of the three largest factions. The resolution was drafted by Stefano Valdegamberi of the nationalist party Lega Nord, a pro-Russian politician who “has long been defending Moscow’s interests.” “The European Union and Italy have refused to apply the international law principle of self-determination to the Crimean peninsula. The EU and Italy are clearly pursuing the policy of double standards for geopolitical reasons. They totally ignore the almost unanimous vote of the Crimean people and parliament, as well as the historical and cultural circumstances that contributed to this choice,” the Veneto councilors’ resolution says. It is obvious that Italian lawmakers have no idea of what has really happened in Crimea, what peoples reside there and which of them is indigenous.

The Day requested Yevhen Perelyhin, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Italy, to comment on this decision of the Veneto Regional Council. “Unfortunately, some Ukrainian mass media are repeating Russian propaganda. There has been no recognition. It is not a juridical document but a political address of the Veneto Council’s majority to the Italian government with a demand (?!) that the EU revise its policies towards Russia and even lift sanctions. I am not sure that the government of Italy will respond to every address of regional councilors (no laws require this), but, if the Italian government still gives a response, it will confirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea, and note, as it has often done before, that sanctions could only be lifted if Russia observed the Minsk Agreements. We have discussed this with representatives of regional governments, including that of Veneto, which has received wide coverage in the Italian media and Facebook. It is the far right parties that favor the secession of northern Italy and are playing the Crimean card for this purpose,” the ambassador said.