SIMFEROPOL, July 25. /TASS/. A visit by a delegation from Nice to Yalta has been postponed indefinitely due to the Bastille Day terror attack, Yalta's mayor, Andrey Rostenko announced on Monday.
"Because of the drama that unfolded (in France), we are not going to go through with this visit, and we are not going to discuss the issue, it has been taken off the agenda," he said.
According to Rostenko, Yalta’s city administration has been maintaining close contact with Nice’s municipal authorities. "For now it (the visit to Yalta) is not an appropriate question," he added.
In late February, a Russian delegation from Yalta led by Rostenko visited the city on the French Riviera. The Crimean resort city chief met the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, who supports the decision by Crimean residents to reunite with Russia. Earlier a visit by the French delegation had been set for May, but it was later rescheduled to be held in August. Yalta has been a sister city of Nice since 1960.
On the evening of July 14, as thousands of visitors were returning from a festive fireworks display celebrating Bastille Day on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, a truck rammed into the crowd at full speed. Eighty-four people were killed and about 200 were injured. French authorities officially declared three days of national mourning for victims of the terrorist attack. Subsequently, France has taken measures to beef up security.
On July 21, the French National Assembly voted to extend the nationwide state of emergency for six months.