French MPs to visit Crimea
The planned visit of French parliamentarians to Crimea is evidence that the sanctions are ineffective, a Member of the French National Assembly for French residents overseas, Thierry Mariani, said in an interview with RIA Novosti this Thursday, July, 28 2016 in Moscow.
The delegation of 11 French parliamentarians led by a member of the National Assembly, the former Minister of Transport of France, Thierry Mariani, will visit the Crimea from 29 to 31 July, 2016.
"The delegation consisted of those who have already visited Crimea and six people that have not been to the Crimea. I think all of this suggests that the sanctions that were adopted, have proven ineffective," Mariani said during the talks with the Chairman of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin.
"The French delegates are still interested in seeing things as they are. I believe that this attitude has allowed us to adopt the initiative of lifting sanctions against Russia in the National Assembly first and then in the Senate,” the French MP said.
According to the Deputy, the French delegation will meet with representatives of the Crimean authorities , Sergey Aksyonov, Vladimir Konstantinov, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Crimea, Natalya Poklonskaya, and Governor of the City of Sevastopol, Sergey Menyaylo.
Earlier, the French Foreign Ministry called the intention of the French Parliament to visit the annexed Crimea an "illegal initiative", which has "nothing to do with the position of the French Foreign Ministry, the European Union and the entire international community."
As it was previously reported, the group of French deputies, led by Thierry Mariani, visited the annexed Crimea in late July last year. The trip was met with disapproval from the Foreign Ministry of France and the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine. The main part of the French delegation consisted of deputies from the Republican party of the former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) banned all French deputies who traveled to the Crimea from entering Ukraine.