MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – The Venetian Independence (Indipendenza Veneta) movement supports the upcoming elections in Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics and believes the vote will help to find a compromise between the warring parties, a founding member and leader of the Indipendenza Veneta movement in Italy Alessio Morosin told RIA Novosti.
"We are determined and share the position of Russia's Foreign Ministry, that the elections (in the case of a large turnout) will help to find a compromise between the parties of the conflict. Because then the legitimacy of the Donetsk and Luhansk authorities, still denied in Kiev, will be evident," Alessio Morosin told RIA Novosti.
On November 2, the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk will hold elections for regional leaders and legislative bodies, despite Kiev's intention to hold local elections in these regions on December 7.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped the Donetsk and Luhansk elections would go ahead as planned and that Russia would recognize the results. The minister stressed that these elections are important in terms of the legitimization of power.
"This is another step toward strengthening their self-determination process," Alessio Morosin said. "We believe that only local populations can define the form and organization [of their governing system], not foreign organizations or governments," he added.
"It is not up to the statements of any government, whether the elections are legitimate or not. Rather if the majority of the population takes part in the conscious and free selection of local authorities," the head of Indipendenza Veneta stressed.
He also expressed hope that Kiev authorities would observe the terms of the ceasefire and let the people make their choice in peace.
Following a February coup in Kiev, residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine established so-called people's republics and later declared independence. The crisis escalated in mid-April, when Kiev authorities launched a military operation against the independence supporters.
On September 5, the conflicting sides agreed on a ceasefire during a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. A memorandum specifying the implementation of the ceasefire was adopted at another Contact Group meeting on September 19.
