Fake monitors “observe” fake elections in Donbas

The "Donetsk People's Republic" (DNR) and "Luhansk People's Republic" (LNR), the organizations which are recognized as terrorist by the Ukrainian authorities, will hold "parliamentary elections" on Sunday, 2nd of November, on the territories occupied by them with the help of the Russian army. These "elections" are widely considered illegal and illegitimate, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored "the planned holding by armed rebel groups in eastern Ukraine of their own “elections” on 2 November, in breach of the Constitution and national law" adding that "these “elections” will seriously undermine the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, which need to be urgently implemented in full". Nevertheless, the Kremlin is said to be willing to recognize these "elections", yet again completely dismissing the advice from the UN let alone defying the laws of Ukraine that Russia has invaded in February-March 2014. The DNR/LNR "elections" will not be recognized as legitimate either by the EU or the US that threaten Russia with further sanctions for undermining Ukraine's independence and sovereignty. As it happened before, the Kremlin will employ puppet "election monitors" that will "observe" and legitimize the "elections" held by the terrorists. Evidence suggests that two "election monitoring organizations" have been in charge of setting up "election observation mission" for the DNR/LNR: the Eurasian Observatory of Democracy and Elections (EODE) run by Belgian fascist Luc Michel and the European Centre for Geopolitical Analysis (ECGA) run by Polish far right politician Mateusz Piskorski - both have been in the service of the Kremlin's foreign policy since 2005-2006.

At the time of writing, the following names of international "observers" hired by the the EODE and ECGA the can be disclosed: As my analysis of the movements of these international "election monitors" shows, they arrived to Donetsk from Moscow via Rostov-on-Don. This means that they have all entered Ukraine illegally, as they did not pass pass the official Ukrainian border control. Thus, they can be all persecuted for the crime of illegal border crossing. According to Moscow-based journalist Alec Luhn, at the press conference in Donbas, the international "observers" suggested creating the Association for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ASCE), but then Stadler proposed the name "Agency for Security and Cooperation in Europe" (ASCE). The name obviously refers to the Oganisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an international organization that, in particular, monitors elections in different parts of the world. Since it provides objective and independent monitoring of elections and referenda, the OSCE is hated by the EODE and ECGA, as well as Russian authorities. However, while constantly vilifying and trying to discredit the OSCE's observation missions, Russian state-controlled media intentionally present fake "election monitors" as members of the OSCE. For example, in March 2014, Russian TV channel "Rossiya 24" claimed that notorious fascist Michel was "the organizer of the OSCE observation mission" at the illegal "referendum in Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea that Russia annexed afterwards.

This imposturous presentation of Michel to the Russian-speaking audience reveals the high status value of the OSCE even in the generally anti-Western context. The "elections" planned for the 2nd of November may be a start of a new offensive of the DNR/LNR extremists against the Ukrainian forces. There is a non-zero chance of a false flag operation against either the "observers" or people at "polling stations". Some of them may be killed by the (pro-)Russian extremists dressed in uniforms of Ukrainian forces to discredit Ukraine and/or divert the international attention from the illegitimate "elections" to the killing(s) of "election observers" or "voters". The chances are low, but such a development cannot be ruled out. [hr] Cover photo: The press conference of the international "observers" in Donbas, 1 November 2014. Third from the right is Ewald Stadler. Credit: Alec Luhn