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Results of the visit of the Crimea Platform Office to Indonesia as part of the delegation

Results of the visit of the Crimea Platform Office to Indonesia as part of the delegation

The visit of the Ukrainian delegation with the participation of Maria Tomak, Head of the Crimea Platform Department, to Indonesia was completed. The delegation also included: Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine “Ummah” Marat Suleimanov, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliyev, Head of the Indonesia and India Program of the UI Yulia Mykulych, and Professor of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Maksym Yakovliev. The delegation worked in Jakarta for a week.

During this time, a number of important meetings and public events were held to not only raise the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine, in particular, the occupation of Crimea, but also to build potential partnerships with Indonesian institutions at both the government and non-governmental levels.

It is worth reminding that during the Crimea Global conference last October, Dino Patti Djalal, former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Indonesia, founder of FPCI, one of Indonesia’s leading and most influential think tanks, visited Kyiv. In December 2023, the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea/Office of the Crimea Platform hosted a delegation of representatives of Indonesian academic institutions, whose visit was organized by Zinc Network. 

During the week of work in Jakarta, the delegation attended a number of events and meetings, such as:

  • Meeting with the leadership of the oldest Islamic party in Indonesia – United Development Party – on the situation with the violation of the rights of the Muslim community of Ukraine, especially the indigenous Crimean Tatar people in the context of Russian aggression, as well as on the overall situation in Ukraine.
  • Participation in a public panel discussion organized by the leading Indonesian think tank – Foreign Policy Community of Institute (FPCI) on the situation in Crimea, Ukraine in general, and the Peace Formula.
  • Participation in a roundtable discussion at the Habibi Center think tank on the consequences of Russian aggression for the ASEAN region, as well as discussing future cooperation and potential joint initiatives with the Habibi Center.
  • Meetings with government agencies – Deputy Minister of Religious Policies Mr. Saiful Rahmat, Director of the Department of Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, who is also responsible for the development of international relations.
  • Personal meetings with opinion makers, including Desi Anwar, a leading journalist in Indonesia working for CNN; Devi Fortuna, founder of several think tanks and former advisor to Indonesian President Habibie; Dino Patti Djalal, former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States and founder of FPCI, one of Indonesia’s leading think tanks. Meetings with former Indonesian ambassadors to a number of countries, including the former ambassador to the EU and Iran, as well as the former Indonesian ambassador to Ukraine, Yuddy Chrisnandi.
  • Visits and relevant meetings with heads of cultural institutions, in particular, the National Gallery of Indonesia and the Jakarta Cultural Council.
  • Participation in meetings with students (several hundred people) and faculty and leadership of several universities, including the Presidential University of Indonesia and Pembangunan Jaya University. Meeting with the leadership of the University of Muhamadiyah.
  • Meeting with the staff of the Embassy of Ukraine in Indonesia and Ambassador Vasyl Hamianyn, visit to the Embassy.
  • Meetings with media and individual journalists, representatives of the expert community in the region. Publication of a column on Russian neocolonial policy in a popular Indonesian publication.

“Indonesia is an extremely important country for this region, but its role is also growing globally. Let me remind you that it was here that President Zelenskyi’s Peace Formula was presented during Jakarta’s G20 presidency. At the same time, the consequences of the Soviet era are evident. Despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has also affected Indonesia (in terms of food security), and the fact that Crimean Tatars, as Muslims, and their displacement from Crimea, are one of the main targets of Russian aggression, the war in Ukraine remains a marginal topic here due to its geographical distance. During our meetings and communication with journalists and students, we tried our best to emphasize that this war is anti-colonial for Ukraine, in particular for Crimea and its indigenous people, which is very much in line with Indonesian values, as rejection of colonialism is literally written into the Constitution, – Maria Tomak summed up, “I am grateful to the Embassy of Ukraine in Indonesia and Ambassador Vasyl Hamianyn personally for their work, who are making great efforts to maintain attention to Ukraine and to explain this war as anti-colonial to Indonesia.”