Oleksiy Danilov: The NSDC of Ukraine approved the “Strategy for Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved the “Strategy for Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”.

Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov reported this at a briefing after the NSDC meeting on Thursday.

According to him, work on the document lasted more than a year with the involvement of representatives of many institutions, including the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

“This is the first fundamental document since the occupation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation, which clearly identifies the way how we will move forward in the deoccupation of Crimea”, - the NSDC Secretary said.

Mr. Danilov noticed that on May 16, 2008, the NSDC of Ukraine adopted a decision, which was enacted by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of May 20, 2008 № 463, and which instructed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to prepare within two months and ensure a bill to terminate in 2017 international agreements on temporary deployment of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.

“This bill was not developed for reasons unknown to us. We believe that this was the first brick from which the destruction of our entire security system began. This led to the emergence of the so-called Kharkiv Pact in 2010, which were ratified by deputies of the Verkhovna Rada in an unprecedentedly short time - 4 days after signing”, - he noticed.

“The chain of treason appeared not in 2014, but in 2010, - Mr. Danilov said. - Without the support of people’s deputies who voted to ratify the Kharkiv Pact, virtually opening the door to military invasion, an attempt to annex Crimea and temporarily occupy certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions could not have taken place”.

He stressed that such actions should result in not only political but also criminal liability.
“There is a separate order to the Security Service of Ukraine to find out how these 236 deputies voted on this issue, and if the SSU deems it necessary, it should initiate proceedings under Article 111 “Treason” of the Criminal Code against the persons concerned”. - Mr. Danilov stated.