The latest EU sanctions against officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) as well as persons related to elections in the DPR will not have any impact on the future of the republic, head of the DPR Central Election Commission Olga Pozdnyakova told Sputnik.
DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2018) The latest EU sanctions against officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) as well as persons related to elections in the DPR will not have any impact on the future of the republic, head of the DPR Central Election Commission Olga Pozdnyakova told Sputnik.Earlier in the day, the EU Council added nine persons involved in elections in Donbas to its sanctions list, including LPR leader Leonid Pasechnik, the heads of the DPR and LPR central election commissions and parliaments.
"Personal sanctions in this situation are more likely to relate directly to the elections in the DPR and the LPR, rather than to specific individuals. Unfortunately, this decision of the EU Council cannot be called unexpected, since the policy against democracy [establishment] in the republics continues ... Sanctions will not affect the future of the Donetsk People's Republic, but they will once again confirm the dependence and bias of decisions made by Europe at such a high level," Pozdnyakova said.
Pozdnyakova added that the international observers that were present at the elections, including those from the EU countries, confirmed not only the democratic nature of the vote, but also the high level of its organization. The introduction of sanctions by the European Union means that Brussels denies manifestation of democracy in the republic, she added.
The elections of the heads and members of the parliaments of the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas were held on November 11. Kiev did not recognize the elections while Western states, including the European Union, also dubbed them illegitimate.
Russia, in its turn, has noted that the elections in Donbas do not contradict the Minsk accords and pointed to the fact that Ukraine has yet to fulfill its commitments under the peace deal.
