We monitor their activity as we did in our previous special project <\/strong>\u00ab<\/span>Friends of occupation of Crimea\u00bb<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00abInternational association of friends of Crimea\u00bb was created by Russian authorities in occupied Crimea in 2017, with a set of tasks \u2013 to legalize illegal \u00abreferendum\u00bb and further Russian attempt to annex Crimea; to cancel Western sanctions against Russia and to remove \u00abCrimean issue\u00bb from the world agenda.<\/p>\n Marginalized and dubious politicians and businessmen from Europe and Asia were drawn into the Association. Yearly forums of the Association were held in Crimea. Besides that, Russia involved participants into other events \u2013 from \u00abdays of culture\u00bb of national-cultural associations of Crimea controlled by Russian authorities to Yalta international economic forum.<\/p>\n Georgii Muradov at the conference \u00abCrimea in the current international environment\u00bb, 9.11.2022, Simferopol, pohot: mir-info.com<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Russians call these events \u00abpeople\u2019s diplomacy\u00bb. This \u00abdiplomacy\u00bb is supervised by Georgii Muradov, \u00abDeputy Head of Crimea\u00bb, and permanent representative of the \u00abRepublic of Crimea\u00bb under the President of the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n After the Russian full scale invasion, Muradov did not stop his activities. As it became difficult to gather friends on the occupied territory of Crimea, he transferred many events of the Association into online format.<\/p>\n The Association called upon<\/a> \u00abUSA and other NATO countries to initiate constructive dialogue with Russia about mutual security\u00bb on the 25th<\/sup> of February, 2022, on the second day of the Russian aggression when Russian rockets fell on Kyiv and Kharkiv.<\/p>\n Online conference<\/a> of the Association was held on June 21, 2022. It reported that there were participants from Serbia, Israel, China, Poland, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, USA, Austria, Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Norway, Tunis, Poland and other countries.<\/p>\n Online conference of the International Association of the friends of Crimea. 21.06.2022 Photo: ppcrimea.ru<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The VII International conference \u00abCrimea in the current international environment\u00bb was held<\/a> on November 9, 2022 in Simferopol. There were previous members of the Association Aik Babukhanjan from Armenia [\u0410\u0439\u043a \u0411\u0430\u0431\u0443\u0445\u0430\u043d\u044f\u043d], J\u00e1n \u010carnogursk\u00fd, ex-Prime Minister of Slovakia in 1991-92, Vanya Dobreva from Bulgaria and US citizen Regis Tremblay, new \u00abface\u00bb of the Association.<\/p>\n Forum \u00abFriends of Crimea \u2013 friends of Russia\u00bb<\/a> was conducted on November 15, 2002 not in Crimea but in Moscow, in the press center of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new place of the forum was explained by \u00abbroken transport logistics and difficult political situation\u00bb. Russian authorities told that there were \u00ab50 delegates from 40 countries, including Slovakia, Cyprus, Norway, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy as well as countries of Africa and Middle East\u00bb.<\/p>\n However, it is difficult to check this information about \u00ab50 foreign delegates\u00bb as there were no photo or video reports about the forum. The list of participants was not published. The final press conference<\/a> of the Forum was attended by Muradov, J\u00e1n \u010carnogursk\u00fd, Hendrik Weber from Norway, German video blogger Alina Lipp, Gabriel Anicet Kotchofa, ex-Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n Press conference of the participants of Forum \u00abFriends of Crimea \u2013 friends of Russia\u00bb. Moscow, 16.11.2022. Screenshot: pressria.ru<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The lack of information can be explained by the Russians\u2019 attempt to secure the safety of their \u00abforeign friends\u00bb. For example, in 2020 Muradov publicly complained<\/a> to Dmitrii Kiselev, General Director of MIA \u00abRussia Today\u00bb about the Center for Journalist Investigations. He said that the CJI started \u00abaggressive information campaign\u00bb \u00abto discredit\u00bb foreign friends and partners of Crimea (International Association of the friends of Crimea). As he added, foreign partners of Crimea were deeply concerned about the CJI\u2019s campaign. After the Russian full scale invasion into Ukraine, the participation of the Association members in Russian propagandist events makes them look very toxic in their countries. That is why Russian authorities try not to disclose their involvement.<\/p>\n Conference \u00abCrimea in current international environment\u00bb, 9.11.2022, Simferopol. Photo: \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435\u0439 \u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u044c\u0435\u0432\/\u041f\u0413<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Muradov complained<\/a> in Cairo on January 31, 2023: \u00abActivity of this Association became more difficult in some European countries, in particular, in Baltic states and Poland. There are repressions not only against friends of Crimea, but against all friends of Russia, Russians, including journalists\u00bb.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00abFriends of Crimea\u00bb ask for anonymity and the Russian Federation satisfies their requests.<\/p>\n The Forum of anonymous lovers of the Russian Crimea adopted the resolution<\/a> about fighting \u00abanti-Russian racism\u00bb.<\/p>\n Besides that, Muradov has been active in Armenia. In April 2022, he participated in the event called \u00abDays of Crimea in Armenia\u00bb.<\/p>\n As a representative of the Russian Federation, he participated<\/a> in the session of the UN Human Rights Council on October 4, 2022. He made the presentation about \u00abanti-Russism as the new form of racism which acquires dangerous forms in a number of European countries, in particular, in Baltic countries\u00bb.<\/p>\n Book \u00abChronicles of people\u2019s diplomacy of Crimea\u00bb. Photo: RIA Novosti Crimea\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Presentation of Muradov\u2019s book \u00abChronicles of people\u2019s diplomacy of Crimea\u00bb was conducted<\/a> in February 2023 in Simferopol. It looked like an overview of Muradov\u2019s work. The President of the Russian Federation awarded<\/a> Muradov with the Alexander Nevsky Order for his achievements as the \u00abhead of people\u2019s diplomacy\u00bb on January 10, 2023.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sorry, this entry is only available in Russian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709,"featured_media":253474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46352,19],"tags":[46853,47503,31446,46212,24622,52812],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/investigator.org.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/\u0424\u041e\u0422\u041e-1.jpg\")
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