DISINFO: Czechia intends to build hotels in Crimea
SUMMARY
A delegation from Czechia arrived in Crimea. On the peninsula, visitors signed a number of investment documents with the leadership of the peninsula. Among other things, Czechia is going to develop the tourism industry in Crimea.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to portray a gradual acceptance of Crimea's position within the Russian Federation, especially by the West. Read similar cases here. A group of Czech citizens actually visited annexed Crimea, but they were not part of an official delegation. Czechia dissociated itself from such visitors - they had neither the authority nor the mandate to negotiate on behalf of the government about any Czech investments in the economy of annexed Crimea. The trip of several Czech citizens to the peninsula is an exclusively private initiative, the Czech Foreign Ministry said. They called on their citizens to respect the laws of Ukraine. Also, the Czech Foreign Ministry said that for a long time it was strongly recommended not to visit the Ukrainian occupied territories without special permission to enter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. However, the Czech Republic, like any other democratic country, cannot forcibly restrict the right to movement of its citizens and force them not to travel to Crimea or Donbas. See here for the EU statement on the fifth anniversary of Crimea annexation.