Int'l Representatives Not Violating EU Laws By Observing Donbas Elections - Politician

The international representatives do not violate EU laws by observing Sunday's elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), Andreas Maurer, the head of Die Linke party group of the Quakenbruck parliament, said on Saturday.

LUHANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2018) The international representatives do not violate EU laws by observing Sunday's elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), Andreas Maurer, the head of Die Linke party group of the Quakenbruck parliament, said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said that it has launched criminal case over the "organization of illegal elections," in Donbas. At the same time, the LPR Central Election Commission has delivered accreditations to international election observers ahead of the upcoming vote.

"I asked my lawyers ... Neither I, nor my colleagues, nor from Holland, nor from Finland, we do not violate any European or German law," Maurer said at a press conference.

The German law states that every citizen can visit the places one wants, and express opinions about what have been seen, the politician underlined.

"We have visited, observed ... Therefore, according to the legislation of the European Union or Germany, it is impossible to punish us for this. There are 12 notes of protests lying in Germany over my trips to the Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.

Honestly, the German Foreign Ministry is already tired of the Ukrainian ambassador. He always brings them [notes of protest] there, and he always threatens that I will receive some letter from the Prosecutor's Office in Kiev, " the international observer added.

The politician went on to say that he would have doubted his actions if he was the only international observer at the elections in Donbas.

"Maybe if I was sitting here alone, I would have thought about it. But the fact that my colleagues from Holland, Finland and from other countries, 22 countries, that today received accreditations, shows that there are more and more of us. And I am sure that this process cannot be stopped, " Maurer noted.

The elections of the heads and members of the parliaments of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are scheduled for Sunday. The Ukrainian authorities have already stated that they would not recognize the election results. The United States and the European Union have also condemned the vote, arguing that it undermines the commitments taken under the Minsk peace accords, while Russia has said the elections do not contradict the agreements.