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Crimea’s deputy PM says that Poland violates OSCE principles by denying him entry

The official says the Polish authorities seek to prevent an alternative point of view from being expressed by refusing him an entry to Poland for participation in the OSCE forum

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Georgy Muradov has said that the Polish authorities seek to prevent an alternative point of view from being expressed by refusing him an entry to Poland for participation in the OSCE forum.

"We have received a note from the Polish Foreign Ministry, in which an answer is given regarding the possibility of my participation as the Secretary-General of the Russian Association for International Cooperation in OSCE events dedicated to the interaction between the civil societies of the OSCE member-countries and the discussion of issues there related to Crimea and the situation in our republic," Muradov told a news conference on Monday. According to Crimea’s deputy prime minister, the note says that he "has been placed on the list of individuals who are restricted from entering the territory of the European Union and Poland, as a EU member, is implementing this decision."

"I would like to clarify the receipt of denial and emphasize that I was going not to Poland, but to the OSCE forum, wherever it took place," Muradov said. "It makes no difference to me where it is held. I am not given an opportunity to visit a place where the Crimean issue is discussed, and this is a direct violation of all principles of work of international organizations."

"The note also says that the Polish side does not recognize the 'armed seizure' of other country’s territory", Muradov noted. "But the OSCE did not take any specific decisions and did not officially call Crimea’s incorporation [into Russia] an armed seizure." "Which means that the Polish representatives are assuming strange functions of upgrading the entire OSCE legal framework," he said. "So, their main goal is to prevent an alternative point of view to be expressed at the organization’s forums."

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "denial of entry to Poland to Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister Georgy Muradov for taking part in the OSCE meeting to review the compliance with obligations in the human dimension was another unfriendly step by the Polish authorities that would lead to negative consequences."