A context of the current social and political situation determines the special attention that is paid to citizen diplomacy on the Crimean peninsula, because now it is important for the region not only to establish friendly relations with other states, but also to overcome a certain information blockade.

In Russia, opinion polls are as important as, or possibly more so than, in democracies. [...] These opinion polls, in turn, reflect the information bubble created by the Russian government. For example, a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Centerin 2014 found 80 percent of Russians supported Russia going to war to ensure that Crimea became part of Russia instead of Ukraine."

The Estonian government has allocated EUR 105,000 for the project titled 'Protection of Crimean Tatar rights through public diplomacy', according to Oliver Loode, Vice Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in an interview.

All Coca-Cola wanted to do was to wish consumers a happy new year, but instead it ended up stirring anger in [...] Russia and Ukraine, over [...] Crimea […] In a new year’s message on VK, the most popular Russian social media network, Coca-Cola published a map of Russia that did not include Crimea. Faced with barrage of criticism [...], it published the map again on Tuesday [...] including Crimea, and apologized.

The former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan once commented that the most difficult thing about politics was "events, dear boy, events." Events can be helpful or unhelpful coincidences for statesmen. [...] The West needs to engage seriously with Turkey.