Refat Chubarov thanked the Czech Republic for the close attention it has been paying to the situation in Crimea and for its continuous support for the human rights defenders and organizations helping local victims of the persecution as well as for the consistent public support in the international forums.

The Czech Republic has been following the situation in Crimean peninsula very closely. It has repeatedly condemned its annexation by Russia as an unprecedented breach of international law. The Czech Republic has also been protesting against the repressions targeting the Crimean Tatars community and other Ukrainian citizens living in the occupied peninsula. Recent sentences against representatives of the Crimean Tatar people Akhtem Chiygoz and Ulmi Umerov are unacceptable and the Czech Republic has called publicly on the Russian Federation to immediately free not only these two prisoners but also other Ukrainian citizens illegally detained or imprisoned.

The Czech Republic has been consistently supporting Ukrainian civil society organizations that are monitoring the human rights abuses in Crimea and helping local citizens. It has been also repeatedly raising the issue of human rights violations in Crimea and the persecution of the Crimean Tatars minority in the international organizations, including at the UN Human Rights Council and the Council of Europe.