The European Union will not recognize the “illegal” elections organized by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, the EU’s foreign policy chief said late Sunday.
The separatists held the controversial election process Sunday in defiance of the Kiev government in two self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to Luhansk Chief Election Commissioner Sergei Kozyakov, around 628,138 people had voted in the polls for the new parliaments and leaderships in the region as of 8 p.m. local time.
“I consider today’s ‘presidential and parliamentary elections’ in Donetsk and Lugansk ‘People’s Republics’ a new obstacle on the path towards peace in Ukraine. The vote is illegal and illegitimate, and the European Union will not recognize it," Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said.
In her written statement, Mogherini also called on the two parties to work for elections in accordance with the Ukrainian law.
Previously, the Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that no civilized country in the world or any international organizations recognized the “so-called” elections.
The polls in eastern Ukraine came only a week after the Ukrainian government in Kiev had organized its own official general elections on October 26.
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