Belgium’s Foreign Minister, who traveled to occupied Crimea, expressed support for Ukraine

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib, wrote a letter to his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood

It is reported by the European Pravda.

She expressed her support for Ukraine in it, emphasizing that Crimea and Donbas belong to Ukraine.

"I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my country's unwavering solidarity with and the full support to Ukraine as well as the deep friendship that unites our two countries," Lahbib wrote.

The minister, who traveled to occupied Crimea in the summer of 2021, emphasized in her letter that Crimea and Donbas belong to Ukraine.

However, she did not mention her last year's trip to the peninsula.

"The territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders must be fully respected. These borders include all the territories of Ukraine, among which Crimea and the Donbas, which are presently under the illegal occupation of the Russian Federation, directly or via puppet regimes," Lahbib stressed.

She also expressed support for Ukraine's European perspective.

"My country sees Ukraine as a member of the European family. We firmly support your country's determination to defend the same values of freedom and democracy that inspire the European project," writes Lahbib.

"Belgium systematically condemns in the strongest terms russia's aggression against Ukraine. We also strongly support the fight against impunity for war crimes. Belgium is determined to continue to provide political, economic, military, and humanitarian support to your country. And we will be there when it comes to rebuilding your country after the war and supporting Ukraine to implement the necessary reforms on the road towards its European destiny," the head of the Belgian Foreign Ministry said in the letter.

Lahbib also expressed hope that she would be able to visit Kyiv in the near future.

We will remind you that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, through diplomatic channels with the Belgian side, is investigating exactly how the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib, traveled to the occupied Crimea in the summer of 2021. She was still a journalist then.

At the same time, the ministry positively noted Minister Lahbib's assurances regarding further support for Ukraine in its fight against russia's armed aggression.

It should be noted that Hadja Lahbib went to the occupied Crimea in the summer of 2021 for the "Global Values" festival, organized by the Sevastopol Academic russian Drama Theater named after Lunacharsky.

She did not hide this fact and openly talked about the trip on social networks and television.

But it did not become widely publicized before she was appointed the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Read Rubryka's daily timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.