Situation in Crimea Normalizing - Head of French Delegation

The situation in Crimea is normalizing as new projects are being launched on the peninsula, the head of the delegation of French lawmakers which recently visited Crimea, Thierry Mariani, said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last week, a group of 11 French lawmakers headed by Mariani paid a three-day visit to Crimea, which was preceded by a visit last July.

"We were talking about future plans, new projects, about the construction of new schools, repairing roads, construction of state infrastructure, problems of minorities — the situation is increasingly normalizing, [Crimea is] becoming similar to any place, the local authorities are concerned about the welfare of citizens. The people are more concerned about their holidays than about security issues," Mariani told reporters.

He added that those who described the peninsula as an occupied territory had "better personally visit Crimea and see what is happening there."

In July 2015, a group of 10 French lawmakers visited Crimea for the first time despite domestic and European criticism. The lawmakers said at the time that what they had seen in the region was completely different from how it was usually portrayed in Western media.

"There is such a powerful pressure on those who want to come to Crimea because the people, upon coming here, begin telling the things opposite to what is being spread in the Western media. Crimea has chosen its path, it has made the decision by the vote of the majority of the population, and the international community knows it — and now we need to finally resolve this issue, to recognize that reality and move towards solving the problems in Donbas. That would be the way to normalize relations with Russia," Mariani said.

Crimea rejoined Russia after a 2014 referendum in which over 96 percent of the Crimean population voted in favor of reunification. Sevastopol, which has a federal city status, supported the move by 95.6 percent of the votes.