Brussels, 05/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 2 October, at the end of a Normandy-format meeting with his Russian, Ukrainian and German counterparts, France's President François Hollande announced that full implementation of the Minsk agreements will not take place, as initially planned, before the end of 2015, and that “we will go beyond the planned date of 31 December 2015”.
The leaders decided, for example, to postpone the local elections in the east of Ukraine. Although the elections planned for 25 October in Ukraine will be maintained, those planned for 18 October in Donetsk and for 1 November in Luhansk have been postponed until 2016 “in order to allow an indisputable election”, according to Hollande. Before these elections are held, a new electoral law will have to be developed in agreement with the rebels, then voted on by the Ukrainian Parliament. The elections will then have to be held within 90 days of the electoral law being adopted. On the day of the election, the special law for the regions will provisionally enter into force. As soon as the elections have been deemed “indisputable” by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the law will be applied definitively, Hollande stated. The law on the amnesty will also enter into force on election day.
“Once we've had the elections, time will still have to be taken to reach the last stage of Minsk”, Hollande added. This last stage is the withdrawal of illegal armed groups acting in Donbas, and the re-establishment of total control of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The leaders also agreed that the withdrawal of light weapons should begin on Saturday 3 October, again that the humanitarian situation should be improved.
Questioned by EUROPE, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini hailed the agreements obtained at the meeting. The spokesperson reiterated that the EU was ready to back the ongoing efforts according to the needs. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)