Separatists win Eastern Ukraine vote | Journal
Ukraine #39;s eastern regions held elections this weekend - and separatist candidates are reported to have won handily in Donetsk and Luhansk. The international community has condemned the vote,...
By: DW (English)
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Separatists win Eastern Ukraine vote | Journal - Video
Pro Russian rebels name leader in Ukraine as crisis deepens
Separatist leader Alexander Zacharchenko sweeps polls in rebel-held region of Ukraine to become the head of Donetsk People #39;s Republic - a breakaway republic in eastern Ukraine. Pavithra George...
By: Katia Costia
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Pro Russian rebels name leader in Ukraine as crisis deepens - Video
Kiev/Donetsk, Ukraine Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency meeting of his security chiefs for Tuesday to discuss new ways of dealing with the separatist challenge in the east after rebel elections that were denounced by Kiev and the West.
The rogue votes, which Kiev says Russia encouraged, could create a new "frozen conflict" in post-Soviet Europe and further threaten the territorial unity of Ukraine, which lost control of its Crimean peninsula in March when it was annexed by Russia.
Organizers of the twin ballots said insurgent leaders had emerged victorious in both Donetsk and Luhansk -- two Russian speaking areas of eastern Ukraine -- throwing down the gauntlet to Poroshenko, who vehemently opposed the election.
In a statement, the Ukrainian president denounced the vote as an "electoral farce," repeating that it violated a bedrock deal struck in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sept. 5 intended to pave the way for a settlement of the separatist problem.
His sentiments were echoed by the White House, which condemned what it called "illegitimate, so-called 'elections'" and warned economic penalties on Russia "will rise" if Moscow continues to violate the Minsk deal.
"We are concerned by a Russian Foreign Ministry statement today that seeks to legitimize these sham 'elections,'" Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement on Monday.
Calling for "adjustments" to be made in the way he handled the east, Poroshenko said he intended to scrap a law that would have offered "special status" to areas in the east including those controlled by the rebels.
This would be among points to be discussed on Tuesday in a meeting of Ukraine's security and defense council, he said.
The "special status" law envisaged allowing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to run their own affairs and also offered separatist fighters freedom from prosecution.
Kiev says the Minsk agreement provided only for election of local officials under Ukrainian law, and not for separatist ballots aimed at bringing in leaders of breakaway entities who seek close association or even union with Russia.
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Ukraine president denounces 'electoral farce' after rebels win Eastern vote
Electoral workers count ballots for the leadership vote in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic at a polling station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Nov. 2, 2014.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said rebel-held elections in the countrys east violate a two-month-old cease-fire, as he threatened to scrap the law granting greater autonomy to the separatist regions.
Calling the Nov. 2 ballots a farce that jeopardizes the entire peace process, Poroshenko said Ukraine will never recognize their results, according to a statement issued yesterday. Poroshenko will convene a meeting of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council at 5 p.m. today to consider revoking the special status law that was part of the truce accord struck Sept. 5 in the Belarus capital, Minsk.
As the U.S. and its European allies rejected the vote in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday it respected the results, which provided a mandate to the elected representatives to solve practical tasks and restore normal life in the regions. Officials from Germany warned the government in Moscow of stronger economic sanctions.
The contested vote exposed a deepening rift over a conflict that the United Nations estimates has cost more than 4,000 lives. After Russia agreed to a peace plan in September, the parliament in Kiev approved laws that extend temporary autonomy to parts of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, allowing them to hold elections to appoint self-ruling bodies. Ukraine scheduled the official poll for Dec. 7, while rebels loyal to Russia staged their own vote.
The pseudo-elections undermined the law and aggravated the situation in the Donbas, Poroshenko said. We are ready to provide broad powers laid down in the law only to the legally elected local government, not to the bandits who coronate themselves.
If all sides abide by the Minsk agreement, Ukraine is willing to approve another law to decentralize power, he said.
The force of the presidents remarks underscores concerns in Kiev that the rebel regions are becoming increasingly divorced from Ukraine as de-facto statelets. Russias sixth aid mission arrived in Donetsk and Luhansk today after two 10-truck convoys crossed the border into Ukraine with more than 50 tons of fuel and medicines each, RIA Novosti news service reported, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Poroshenkos response is logical because the rebel elections completely wrecked the Minsk agreement, Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst at the Penta research institute in Kiev, said by phone. There is a great risk of further conflict, he said.
Russian-backed attacks will be intensified to force Europe and Ukraine into direct talks with separatist leaders now, Fesenko said. That is why those elections were needed. And, through those talks, to legitimize the two separatist republics.
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Ukraine Says Rebel Votes Undercut Truce as Tension Mount
Residents of eastern Ukraine say they #39;re ready for rebel-held election
Rebels and residents in eastern Ukraine are preparing for Sunday #39;s election held by the pro-Russian separatist authorities. Nathan Frandino reports. Subscribe: http://smarturl.it/reuterssubscribe...
By: Reuters
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Residents of eastern Ukraine say they're ready for rebel-held election - Video