- Title: RUSSIA/FILE-MRS AMERICA Mrs. America pageant to take place in annexed Crimea
- Date: 30th September 2014
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 30, 2014) (REUTERS) MRS. AMERICA 2014, MICHELLE EVANS, AT NEWS CONFERENCE HALL AT RUSSIAN ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENCY CAMERAMAN WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MRS. AMERICA PAGEANT, DAVID MARMEL, SAYING: "If the question is was there a negative reaction in the United States about our coming here - so far my observation is yes, there was some objection but essentially it came from the Ukrainians who are in the United States. So thus far it's been subjective and very personal on the part of the expatriate Ukrainians. What is going to be said later - I don't have a crystal ball. We will see." EVANS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MRS. AMERICA PAGEANT, DAVID MARMEL, SAYING: "They cannot put sanctions on us. We are free to think what we want, go where we want and do what we want. And with all due respect if my mayor, or governor, or senator called with some objection, I'd suggest to him that maybe he ought to revisit his values and pay attention to other more important political work." REFLECTION OF EVANS AND OTHER NEWS CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MRS AMERICA 2014, MICHELE EVANS, SAYING: "It's not about politics for us it's about having an experience for the Russian women and the American women together." MAN LISTENING WITH GLOBE IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) MRS. AMERICA 2014, MICHELE EVANS, SAYING: "We've got to experience beautiful Sevastopol and release pigeons from the Sevastopol monument and meet the governor and got to experience Yalta, the beautiful beach and mountains."
- Embargoed: 15th October 2014 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVALYNO9W51IO4TMI9B3EE3FB15
- Story Text: Organisers of the Mrs. America pageant announced at a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday (September 30) that next year's contest will be held in Sevastopol - a port on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
The news received warm welcome in Russia which promises to throw a spectacular show on the sea during the pageant and much less enthusiastic reception in the United States.
But the event organiser David Marmel said the pageant has nothing to do with politics and that the criticism comes only from the Ukrainians living in the U.S.
"If the question is was there a negative reaction in the United States about our coming here - so far my observation is yes, there was some objection but essentially it came from the Ukrainians who are in the United States. So thus far it's been subjective and very personal on the part of the expatriate Ukrainians. What is going to be said later - I don't have a crystal ball. We will see," said Marmel, the president and CEO of the Mrs. America pageant.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March after pro-Western protesters in Kiev drove from power a president with close ties to Moscow. The West condemned the move imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its role in Crimea and in mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where the West accuses Russia of directly backing separatists.
But Marmel said he is not afraid of the possible consequences of having a pageant in Crimea.
"They cannot put sanctions on us. We are free to think what we want, go where we want and do what we want. And with all due respect if my mayor, or governor, or senator called with some objection, I'd suggest to him that maybe he ought to revisit his values and pay attention to other more important political work," said Marmel.
Michele Evans, who holds the title of Mrs. America 2014, says she sees the event as a possibility for American and Russian women to get to know each other better.
"It's not about politics for us it's about having an experience for the Russian women and the American women together," Evans said.
She has already visited Crimea and shared her impressions with the audience.
"We've got to experience beautiful Sevastopol and release pigeons from the Sevastopol monument and meet the governor and got to experience Yalta, the beautiful beach and mountains," said Evans.
Fifty-one married American women will take part in the contest together with equal number of married Russian women.
The initiative to hold the contest in Russia came from Moscow, the same as 25 years ago, when the Soviet authorities invited Mrs. America organisers to hold a joint contest in the then-Soviet Union.
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