Leading MEP condemns EU's stance on controversial Ukraine elections

Senior French MEP Jean-Luc Schaffhauser has bitterly condemned the EU for failing to back Sunday's (2 November) controversial elections in Ukraine's two breakaway regions. Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday (4 November), he branded the EU as a "machine for war" with its hardline stance on the poll in the two self-proclaimed people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 

He also told the event at the Press Club in Brussels, organized by EU Reporter, that the current crisis in Ukraine could "lead to a new Cold War".  Schaffhauser, who was part of a team of observers who monitored the elections, told a news briefing that the Kiev authorities would have no choice than to enter into discussions with the two leaders elected as "heads of state" in the two regions.

Results showed Alexander Zakharchenko, the prime minister in Donetsk, had won the poll to become the head of the region. His party also came first in the parliamentary election on Sunday. In Luhansk, the incumbent rebel prime minister, Igor Plotnitsky, was declared the winner.  Schaffhauser, a  non attached deputy and president of the European Academy, said: "There now desperately needs to be a dialogue between the two sides. It is the only way to find a peaceful solution."  The elections, he said, were a "legitimate expression" of the public's wishes in the two regions.

The MEP, a substitute member of the foreign affairs committee, was particularly scathing of the EU which, along with the US and Ukraine, has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the elections.  "I cannot understand the EU's position. It says it wants peace but is doing nothing to achieve it. Europe is supposed to be a project for peace but it is becoming a machine for war and that is contrary to what Europe is about," he told the briefing, attended by Ukraine and Brussels-based journalists.

He also believes that it is not the intention of Russia, which gave its support to the polls, to annex the East of Ukraine as it did in Crimea or to create an "independent state."

"I believe that Moscow merely wants to find a peaceful solution, no more and no less."  His remarks come amid a fresh row over the legitimacy of the seven-strong team of international election monitors.  The observers, who came from various European countries, including Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK, as well as the US, insist that the poll by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine was “fair and transparent".  But on Monday, they were accused by the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yuriy Sergeyev, of entering Ukraine illegally and engaging in "illegal activities". Kiev has declared them persona non grata. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) inspected polling stations in Donetsk ahead of Sunday's elections, checking polling booths and voter registration desks.  Schaffhauser, though, strongly defended the neutrality and independence of the non OSCE monitors at the Brussels briefing.

He said: "I did not represent the European Parliament but was there of my own volition. I saw no violations but, rather, a real willingness among the people to vote. People had to show proof of residency to vote and it was not possible to vote several times."  His comments were echoed by Italian political scientist Alessandro Musolino, president of Youth Forza Italia, who said: "I strongly and totally refute suggestions that we were biased in some way. This is an insult to my integrity. From what I could see the elections were fair. All the ballot boxes were transparent so you could see inside which I have to say is not always the case in elections in some EU countries. I find it unbelievable that anyone should contest the outcome of this election. I wanted to see on the ground what the situation is and our role was not to take sides but to simply observe an election. What I saw were a lot of people who clearly wanted to cast their vote."

With the war now into its seventh month, another observer, Eric Lauffenburger, of 'Urgence entrants d`Ukraine', spoke about the badly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in  East Ukraine  He said: "I visited schools where children are suffering the effects of this war. They live in villages which are on the frontline, with stockpiles of weapons everywhere and with a civil population that is starting to flee the area. It is becoming increasingly grave."

A spokesman for the Central Election Committee Representative in Donetsk, Oleg Bondarenko, said: "Observers from Spain, Germany, France, Italy were represented. Almost the entire political spectrum was displayed. Austria was represented by right–wing politicians, Greece by the left."  He said three million ballots were printed for the polls and that participation of the observers in the elections was an “important instrument” in showing they were “open and transparent”.

The furore over the observers comes as the new leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk were officially sworn on Tuesday and with the future of the shaky truce between the country's warring factions in fresh doubt.  Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said the vote had jeopardised "the entire peace process" and that he would hold a meeting of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council on Tuesday to propose abolishing the law granting special self-government to rebel-held areas.

However, rebel leaders say that as independent states they are not required to observe Ukrainian law and therefore did not participate in Ukraine's national elections just over a week ago.  The Donetsk and Luhansk regions fell to separatists after months of fighting in eastern Ukraine that ended with the Minsk ceasefire deal in September.  No official figures are yet available for Donetsk but the turnout in Luhansk is thought to have been nearly 40% in a total population in Donetsk and Luhansk of around six million.  Speaking on Sunday, former Austrian Freedom Party MEP Ewald Stadler, another observer, said he was satisfied with the way the elections were run.

Stadler, who is also a lawyer, added: “The election was an expression of what people in these two regions want. No one can say that they do not accurately reflect public opinion. I have observed elections before and saw nothing wrong with this. What it will achieve is another question of course.”  Hungarian MP Gyongyosi Marton, who was also one of the observers, told this website that as far as he could see the elections has been“perfectly fair and transparent”.

He said: “I realize that they were not recognized by the EU and US but I saw nothing to give cause for concern in the way they were conducted. There were long queues of voters at several of the 300 polling stations. The majority of people said they were voting for peace and for a future separate from Ukraine. Many people expressed a desire for Russia to seize the region in the same way it annexed Crimea from Ukraine this year."

He added: “I saw long lines of people waiting to vote which is encouraging in itself and shows a willingness to vote. I closely observed the ballot papers and all seemed in order.  “What all this means for the future remains to be seen of course. Personally, I think the result should lead to some sort of self rule for these two regions.”  Another observer, Srdja Trifkovic, from Serbia, endorsed his comments and said: "They appear to have been executed fairly and openly and my hope now is that they will lead to some sort of peaceful resolution to the current crisis.”  Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Minsk deal provided for elections "in co-ordination with, not in line with" Ukrainian plans. The elections come after Ukraine elected a new parliament on 26 October and with the very survival of the Ukrainian state at stake.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in the war in the east and 300 more since a ceasefire was agreed on 5 September, as the rebels try to grab more land, resources and supply lines.  The Ukrainian economy is collapsing, with a fall in GDP of between 7% and 10% forecast for this year.

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