The Ukrainian newspaper Yuvrobska Pravda reported that Kyiv has so far denied the new Belgian foreign minister, Haya Habib, a request to visit the country because of a previous trip to Crimea.
In a newspaper article, writer Sergei Sidorenko pointed out that in 2021 Lahbib, as a journalist, attended the Universal Values festival in Sevastopol, adding that the Belgian diplomat “must apologize to Kyiv.”
According to the writer, after returning from the Crimea, she made statements to Khabib that “questioned the belonging of the peninsula to Ukraine.”
Sidorenko added that after returning to Belgium, she told Khabib that she “illegally entered Crimea” and that “when asked if she considers Crimea Ukrainian or Russian, the journalist evaded answering, recalling her trip to Crimea. With the words “I left for Russia.”
The writer felt that Lahbib was trying to ignore the allegations and described the trip on social media as “part of her journalistic work”, adding that by law Ukraine must fine her and ban her from entering for three years.
“Given that this trip took place before the appointment of Lahbib as a minister and as part of her work at that time, the Foreign Ministry will refrain from any comments,” Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Wouter Pauls told a Ukrainian newspaper.
On Thursday, Khabib assured her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba of Belgium’s “strong solidarity” with Kyiv on the occasion of Ukrainian State Day, expressing a desire to “quickly” travel to Kyiv.
In a message via Twitter, the Belgian minister stressed the need to “fully respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea and Donbass.”
Source: “News”