About 200 U.S. reservists, whose arrival in Crimea in southern Ukraine sparked anti-NATO protests, will leave by Monday, but planned military exercises may still take place, Ukraine's navy quoted by AFP has said. ... The contentious atmosphere in Ukraine has led to the postponement of another joint military exercise between Ukraine and Britain. The Ukrainian defense ministry said Thursday "in the current situation" Kiev and London had decided "unfortunately" to postpone maneuvers which were scheduled to start June 12. No new date has been set.
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The contentious atmosphere in Ukraine has led to the postponement of another joint military exercise between Ukraine and Britain.
The Ukrainian defense ministry said Thursday "in the current situation" Kiev and London had decided "unfortunately" to postpone maneuvers which were scheduled to start June 12. No new date has been set.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine urged the national mass media "not to disseminate the myth of the neutral political status of Ukraine." As Deputy Head of the NATO Department at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Vladislav Yasniuk claimed at a special seminar for journalists on the issues of Atlantic integration, "the Constitution does not contain a word on the neutral status, that is why we are urging the media to refrain from propagating the myth," REGNUM correspondent in Kiev reported on June 9. "We are facing the situation when information about NATO circulated by the media does not conform to the reality," Yasniuk warned. "One of the most popular ones is the myth on Ukraine's neutral political status. There is no neutral status, actually, that is a myth, because the statement on the neutral status is only mentioned once in the official documents, in the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Ukraine of 1991. That is the only case when the neutral status is mentioned."
"We are facing the situation when information about NATO circulated by the media does not conform to the reality," Yasniuk warned. "One of the most popular ones is the myth on Ukraine's neutral political status. There is no neutral status, actually, that is a myth, because the statement on the neutral status is only mentioned once in the official documents, in the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Ukraine of 1991. That is the only case when the neutral status is mentioned."
The demand for tours to Crimea sank 40 percent in Russia first week of June. Tourist operators blame the decline on mass rallies staged there against the Sea Breeze exercise of NATO in Feodosia. Nevertheless, the record-low drop has hardly surprised the tourist firms. In Crimea, which is the Black Sea resort once owned by Russia but currently belonging to Ukraine, both hotels and individuals tend to hike prices by 25 percent each year without improving either the service or the lodging. TV news about protest rallies prompt a tourist to think the vacations could be threatened in Crimea and Sochi would be better, representatives of tourist firms explain. "The people don't attempt to go into the problem and regard the peninsula ultra-hazardous," specified Natalia Romanova, executive director at Orpheus Co. The actual situation is even worse. Tourist operators speak about the 40-percent drop in public, but in private, they acknowledge the decline is much more serious, said SNP General Director Andrey Golovin. "Some firms put down the seven-fold reduction in number of those willing to spend vacations in Crimea in June or July." Crimea's Resorts and Tourism Ministry claimed some 1.014 million Russians visited the peninsula past summer, only 1.4 percent up on year. At the same time, the share of Russians in the overall tourist flow to Crimea lowered from 42 percent to 35 percent past season.
The demand for tours to Crimea sank 40 percent in Russia first week of June. Tourist operators blame the decline on mass rallies staged there against the Sea Breeze exercise of NATO in Feodosia. Nevertheless, the record-low drop has hardly surprised the tourist firms. In Crimea, which is the Black Sea resort once owned by Russia but currently belonging to Ukraine, both hotels and individuals tend to hike prices by 25 percent each year without improving either the service or the lodging. TV news about protest rallies prompt a tourist to think the vacations could be threatened in Crimea and Sochi would be better, representatives of tourist firms explain. "The people don't attempt to go into the problem and regard the peninsula ultra-hazardous," specified Natalia Romanova, executive director at Orpheus Co.
The actual situation is even worse. Tourist operators speak about the 40-percent drop in public, but in private, they acknowledge the decline is much more serious, said SNP General Director Andrey Golovin. "Some firms put down the seven-fold reduction in number of those willing to spend vacations in Crimea in June or July."
Crimea's Resorts and Tourism Ministry claimed some 1.014 million Russians visited the peninsula past summer, only 1.4 percent up on year. At the same time, the share of Russians in the overall tourist flow to Crimea lowered from 42 percent to 35 percent past season.
