SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) — Late on Thursday, a large Italian delegation of businessmen and lawmakers from the national parliament and local councils arrived in Crimea for a three-day visit, where the delegates are expected to sign memorandums with Russia in political, cultural and economic spheres.
"We are not afraid of threats from Ukraine. We believe that each nation has the right for self-determination. The people of Crimea legally used their right," Valdegamberi, who is also a member of the parliament of Italian’s Veneto region, said.
The Crimean peninsula seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia after more than 96 percent of local voters supported the move in a referendum in March 2014. Kiev, as well as the West, did not recognize the move and considers the peninsula an occupied territory.
However, over 60 delegations from dozens of countries have visited Russia’s southwestern Crimea region this year, defying Western restrictions, including those from France, Italy, Jordan and many other nations.
