Moldovan Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry's declaration on organization of so called "elections" in Eastern Ukraine

Chisinau, 9 November /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova reiterates its firm support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and its internationally recognized borders. Moldova joins the United States of America, European Union member states, Canada and other UN member states and condemns the intention of the so –called “Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics” to organize “elections” on 11 November 2018.   

According to the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service, Moldova describes the intention to hold the concerned “polls” as illegitimate, since the “elections” run counter the Ukrainian legislation and undermine the enforcement of the Minsk agreements and their organization would seriously hit the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.    

Under the Minsk agreements, the local elections in Eastern Ukraine must be monitored by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and be held in line with Ukraine’s legislation and OSCE standards, and these illegal “elections” will not meet these conditions.  

Proceeding from the aforementioned, Moldova welcomes the prolongation by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of the law on the special status of the regions from Eastern Ukraine and calls on all sides to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, which provide for the ceasefire and withdrawal of the heavy weaponry from the contact line. We fully support the Normandy format in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.