The Slovak Foreign Ministry does not recognise the results of the illegal referendum held in Crimea in March 2014 and still considers Crimea to be Ukrainian territory in accordance with the common position of EU and NATO member states, reads a statement issued by the ministry on Saturday. "The peninsula's annexation to the Russian Federation violated the basic principles of international law and disrupted the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," writes the ministry in its statement, adding that the Slovak Republic continues to regard Crimea as the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
Within its upcoming Presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2019, Slovakia will focus on the issue of conflicts in this area, stated the ministry. "Efforts to contribute to addressing the conflict in the neighbouring Ukraine, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity we fully support, will be one of our priorities," reads the ministry's statement.
