Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Valeriy Chaly spoke at the opening of the international conference "Ukraine and the National Minorities Question", which was held at the National Democratic Institute. The event took place in the framework of the Forum "Ukraine’s Quest for Mature Nation Statehood", organized by the Center for US-Ukrainian Relations in Washington, DC.
Ambassador Valeriy Chaly emphasized that the issue of interaction with national minorities in Ukraine is extraordinarily significant not only at the current stage of development of our country, but also in historical context.
Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA informed in detail the participant of the conference on the progress of Ukraine in implementation of the best world practices in the field of protection of national minorities and promotion of tolerance in society. “In Ukraine, people of different nationalities lived side by side for centuries, coexisting in peace and mutual understanding regardless of what language they spoke”, said Valeriy Chaly.
During the speech, the Ambassador paid particular attention to protection of rights of Crimean Tatar community, which has become an object of repressions after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, being deprived of a right to freedom and democracy on its native land. In this regard, he called to intensify the pressure on Russian Federation, including on behalf of the United States and international community.
This year’s conference has gathered a broad participation of experts, cultural and civil activists, officials from Ukraine, the United States and the European Union. In particular, it was attended by the President of World Ukrainian Congress Yevhen Choliy, Head of Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov, Head of Association of Jewish Communities of Ukraine Joseph Zissels, Director of Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the US Department of State Philip Kaplan and other participants.