Germany does not recognize Russian ‘elections’ in occupied Crimea

Germany does not recognize holding of elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the territory of the occupied Crimea and considers the participation of residents of the temporarily occupied areas of eastern Ukraine in them illegal.

"The illegal annexation of Crimea is a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine; Germany does not recognize it. So, of course, we do not recognize holding of elections in Crimea annexed by Russian," Ulrike Demmer, Deputy Speaker of the German Federal Government, said answering questions from an Ukrinform correspondent at a briefing on Wednesday.

She noted that the issuance of Russian passports to residents of the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which enabled them to participate in the Russian elections, was a violation of international law.

Demmer noted that the German Federal Government took very seriously the remarks of observers and Russian opposition politicians about the numerous violations during the voting and counting of votes. According to the spokesperson, the German Government watched with concern how Russia increased pressure on the opposition and society in the run-up to the elections, so the principle of democratic participation in the election was lost.

As reported, voting in the Russian State Duma elections took place on September 17-19. On September 15, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU to be ready not to recognize Russia's parliament and to consider excluding Russia from the PACE if the 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia are recognized as fraudulent and having been conducted in violation of democratic principles and international law.

On September 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemned the illegal organization and conduct of elections by Russia in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea. In addition, Ukraine condemned the forced voting of Ukrainian citizens who had been illegally issued Russian passports in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.