Berlin made it clear as we speak that it doesn’t acknowledge Vladimir Putin's election victory as respectable. The federal authorities doesn’t take into account the elections in Russia to be “neither free nor honest”, deputy authorities spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann stated, including that the chancellor wouldn’t congratulate Mr Putin.
“It was not a democratic election. The outcome was clearly predetermined and the election marketing campaign was characterised by a local weather of intimidation,” stated Mrs. Hoffmann, and, in response to a associated query, famous that the chancellor “didn’t congratulate” Vladimir Putin. “You realize we don't see these so-called elections as both free or honest. The result was clearly predetermined. In our view, this was not a democratic election. No actual candidates have been allowed. There was additionally a local weather of intimidation and arrests. There isn’t a freedom of speech in Russia. Russia – because the chancellor has already stated – is now a dictatorship and is dominated autocratically by Vladimir Putin,” stated the deputy authorities spokeswoman and described yesterday's course of within the occupied Ukrainian territories as “extraordinarily problematic”, stressing that it have to be condemned. “We don't acknowledge her. Solely Ukraine has the proper to carry elections in these territories. That’s our evaluation and that’s the reason the chancellor didn’t provide his congratulations,” Ms Hoffman added.
Learn extra: Kremlin: The individuals help Putin – Creation of a impartial zone in Ukraine
The spokeswoman was repeatedly requested what Berlin will name Vladimir Putin any longer, because it doesn’t acknowledge the election outcome. Mrs. Hoffman restricted herself to stating that the query doesn’t come up, as there may be at the moment no communication with the Russian facet.
From the Ministry of International Affairs, the spokesman Sebastian Fischer additionally identified that Russia “organized election places of work in Transnistria in violation of worldwide regulation” and defined that “it is a clear try and undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova.” He additionally spoke of “unlawful method” within the instances of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia. “Right here, too, an try is being made, via the vote, to undermine the integrity of Georgia inside its internationally acknowledged borders,” Mr. Fischer stated, and reiterated that the outcomes of “sham” elections won’t be acknowledged by the German authorities, simply as they won’t be acknowledged by the “unlawful annexations of the areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson or Crimea”.
Supply: RES-MPE
