Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksenov defined the effect of the EU's prolongation of anti-Russian sanctions as insignificant and called them a disgrace to Europe. He wrote about this on his Facebook page on Monday, June 19.

"The expected solution. Western leaders have been trying for the third year to punish the peoples of the Crimea for their free choice. This is the shame of Europe and the manifestation of totalitarian thinking, a stupid and amoral policy. It harms everyone and, ultimately, leads to chaos in international relations, "Aksenov said..

As for the real economic consequences of anti-Russian sanctions specifically for the peninsula, "they are insignificant," the head of the republic. "There were no serious foreign investments in the Crimea and during the period of Ukrainian annexation. Therefore, the restrictions introduced after reunification with Russia, do not change much ".

As he said, business not only in economy. "It is of fundamental importance for us to convey the truth about the Crimea to the public of Western countries. We have nothing to hide. We are aware of both our historical rightness and the absolute legal perfection of the decision on reunification with Russia, adopted at the March 2014 referendum. This is our strength and this is the weakness of the enemies of the Crimea, whose propaganda is based on lies. You can not deceive everyone and always, "Aksenov noted..

The head of the region recalled that over the past 3 years dozens of foreign delegations from a number of countries, hundreds of politicians, businessmen and journalists visited the Crimea.. In his opinion, this "process will gain momentum", while the losses of European business from restrictive measures against the Russian Federation will only increase.

"So, the pressure of society on power will grow. Far-sighted foreign investors are already preparing the ground for investment, although they prefer not to advertise their intentions and actions yet, "Aksenov summed up and immediately invited the Europeans to the Russian Crimea, urging" not to believe the myths "and the peninsula.

Earlier on Monday it became known that the Council of the European Union had extended sanctions against the Crimea until June 23, 2018. Restrictive measures include the ban on imports into the EU of goods from the republic, investments in the region, services related to tourism in the Crimea and Sevastopol, the export of a number of goods and technologies for the transport, telecommunications and energy sectors, as well as for the oil and gas and mining industries.

According to Crimean businessmen and politicians, EU sanctions do not affect life in Crimea in any way.

Also today, the EU High Representative Federica Magerini spoke of economic sanctions against Russia. According to her, the European Union is likely to prolong them, because "real progress" in the implementation of Minsk agreements is not observed, RIA Novosti reports.. She noted that sanctions will be discussed after the EU summit, which will be held on June 22 and 23. "We have time until the end of July to extend the sanctions," Magerini said..