The political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group has failed to reach a compromise on modalities of the prospective elections in individual districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, First Deputy Speaker of Ukraine’s parliament and Ukrainian representative to the humanitarian subgroup at the Minsk negotiations Iryna Gerashchenko said.
“The political group in Minsk has so far failed to reach a compromise on the modalities. The so-called ‘primaries’ held in the individual districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions did not comply with the Ukrainian laws, so any elections would be out of the question in the near future,” Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
She also said that the remarks made by French President Francois Hollande at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in regard to the way the events in eastern Ukraine should develop, which sparked indignation on social networks, did not send any new messages.
“This is the stance of France and Germany, which personifies the EU stance: security – elections (consistent with Ukrainian laws and international standards […]) – control of the border,” Gerashchenko said.
She added that Ukraine advocated a slightly different position: security should come first (including the removal of foreign armaments and hardware from Ukrainian territory), then humanitarian affairs (the release of everyone from illegal custody without any blackmail and with an amnesty, which must take effect only alongside the political provisions), restoration of Kyiv’s control over the border with Russia with OSCE SMM presence, and only after that political affairs (elections held in accordance with Ukrainian laws and with international monitoring).
“This is our stance. There must be European observers in the elections. European Parliament deputies and employees of the European Parliament and national parliaments are currently barred from visiting Donbas for security reasons, so any elections are out of the question,” Gerashchenko said.
