SIMFEROPOL, July 2. /TASS/. The adoption of the law on indigenous peoples by Ukraine indicates that Kiev has lost any hope to get Crimea back, because the promises to the Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks are impossible to fulfill, Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov said on his VK page Friday.
On July 1, the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. Under this law, Russians cannot be considered as an indigenous people in the country.
"In my opinion, all this indicates clearly that, in reality, Kiev does not believe that Crimea could be brought back under its control. Therefore, it believes it can promise anything at all to the Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks, because these promises will not need to be fulfilled anyway. However, the adoption of the law could be used for propaganda. In seven years, more has been done [in Russian Crimea] in terms of the resettlement of rehabilitated peoples, than during the 23 years [under Ukraine’s control]," Aksyonov said.
The governor noted that one of the first legitimate laws adopted after the reunification with Russia was the presidential order "on measures for the rehabilitation of Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Crimean Tatar and German peoples and state support for their revival and development".
"During the same period, in April, the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea was adopted, cementing the state status of the Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages," Aksyonov noted, adding that this is what separates a responsible national policy from cheap politics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised interview that the bill does not comply with the norms of international humanitarian law. The head of state noted that to call Russians a non-indigenous people "is not simply incorrect, but laughable and stupid," that such a position does not comply with history, and that Kiev’s idea to declare Russians non-indigenous would severely harm the Russian people. According to Putin, the consequences of adopting this bill could be compared with the use of a weapon of mass destruction.