Self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic to ignore Ukraine presidential poll – PM

Published time: May 17, 2014 16:06

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A member of the federalization supporters' self-defense movement is seen at the barricades near the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic (RIA Novosti/Mikhail Voskresenskiy)

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The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) won’t participate in the election of the Ukrainian president on May 25, says the new prime minister of the breakaway region in the East of the country.
“There won’t be any presidential elections on the territory of the republic,” announced Aleksandr Borodai, who was elected leader of the self-proclaimed republic on Friday.
Donetsk, along with the neighboring Lugansk region proclaimed self-rule on Monday, after May-11 referendums, which were called illegal by Kiev and the West.
The Ukrainian coup-imposed government listed the self-proclaimed republics as ‘terrorist’ organizations and launched criminal cases to investigate their formation.
Donetsk republic, for its part, considers the Kiev regime “occupiers” of its territory.
“Here is a sovereign state – Donetsk People’s Republic. We are entitled to decide ourselves what will be done on our territory,” the republic’s press-service told Itar-Tass on Saturday. “We consider Ukraine’s attempt to have elections here as an activity of another state on an occupied territory.”
As long as there are Kiev forces on the region’s soil, the Donetsk Republic government is not going to have a dialogue with Kiev, Borodai told journalists.
“We are not holding any talks with Kiev authorities, as the republic is practically in a war. Part of it is occupied by forces of a real rival,” he said.
Kiev launched a military operation in eastern Ukraine to suppress a wave of anti-government protests that have been raging following the February armed coup that ousted president Viktor Yanukovich. Dozens of people have been killed as a result of ongoing violence.
As confrontation continues, Kiev may give eastern regions more economic freedoms, acting premier Arseny Yatsenyuk suggested.
“Maybe we should give it a thought and launch an experiment in certain Ukrainian regions before making amendments to the Constitution and the Budget Code. For example, in Donetsk and Lugansk,” he said on Saturday at a national unity round-table discussion in Kharkov.“If you are ready for a higher level of economic independence, we are ready for that as well,” Yatsenyuk added, addressing eastern regions and hinting that in this case budget financing would be slashed.
Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics are considering possible forms of merging into a union state, the DNR press-service said.