Lithuania and 30 other member states from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned on Monday against the deteriorating situation in Russia-annexed Crimea.
The Lithuanian ambassador to UNESCO, Irena Vaisvilaitė, read out a statement on behalf of the 31 states expressing concern about the deterioration of media freedom, the safety of journalists, and access to religious institutions in Crimea.
She also underscored the right of Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and all ethnic and religious communities to cherish their language and culture, traditions, education and identity.
The 31 states called on Moscow to immediately release arbitrarily or illegally detained citizens of Ukraine who are still imprisoned in Crimea and in Russia.
The joint statement notes, among other things, that the member states do not recognize the results of the "elections" organized by Russia in the peninsula on September 8, it said.
