On May 31, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova held a video meeting with State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Ljubomir Mišurović.

The First Deputy Minister informed her Montenegrin counterpart about the goals and objectives of the Crimea Platform – a new consultative and coordinating format aimed at improving the effectiveness of the international response to Russia's ongoing occupation of Crimea and countering security and humanitarian challenges.

"We are deeply concerned about the forced demographic changes and the increase of Russia's military presence in Crimea. Contrary to the ruling of the UN International Court of Justice in 2017, the Russian occupation administration continues to ban the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and does not restore citizens' access to Ukrainian education. There are also concerns about the violations of the rights of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars to education in their mother tongue, comprehensive anti-Ukrainian propaganda in educational institutions, and harassment of Crimean Tatar citizen journalists, eight of whom remain illegally imprisoned,” the First Deputy Minister noted.

The counterparts also discussed preparations for the Fourth International Conference on Reforms in Ukraine, which is to be held on July 7-8 in Vilnius, and for the inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform on August 23 in Kyiv.

The State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro stated that his country's foreign policy regarding Ukraine remains unchanged: "We support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."