Elections in the Donbas should be held in accordance with relevant Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) standards and Ukrainian legislation and monitored by the OSCE. This is stated in the final communique of the G7 foreign ministers meeting held in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The text also states that the elections in the Donbas are predicated on “the complete withdrawal of all foreign armed formations and equipment from the territory of Ukraine and the return of Ukrainian control over its side of the international border.” The G7 countries also expect that Russia will “live up to its commitments and use its influence over the separatists to meet their commitments under the Minsk agreements in full.”
In addition, members of the G7 expressed concern over continued violence along the line of contact in violation of the ceasefire and urged all sides to take concrete steps that would lead to the complete ceasefire required under the Minsk agreements.
The Day asked chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Foreign Affairs Hanna HOPKO to comment on the G7 statement on the elections in the Donbas.
“The G7 and Ukraine agree that elections are possible only under appropriate conditions. This means improved security situation and the presence of OSCE international missions, including the security one. We are negotiating with the EU on a separate police mission, which should be present in the Donbas. I told the foreign ministers of Germany and France before: if you want these elections, send your people to the Donbas and provide security in the election period.
“Olha Aivazovska has officially joined the trilateral contact group lately and is participating in the discussion of the conditions under which the elections may take place in the Donbas. In particular, they must comply with standards of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) which should force the Kremlin-controlled separatists and terrorists to leave our soil, allow for an increased presence of international observers in the occupied territories, restoration of Ukrainian administration, parties and media there, and the return of control over the border. These are key conditions for the elections, otherwise it will be a mere imitation of all the standards that define honest and fair elections and a legalization of the Luhansk and Donetsk ‘people’s republics’ by the Kremlin. No Ukrainian MP would go with this scenario, and the Ukrainian people would not consent to it either.”
