Ukraine: The director of a German public energy company participates as an observer in the referendum on the annexation of Zaporozhye province to Russia

The director of a German energy company with majority state ownership is participating as an observer in the referendum on the annexation of the Ukrainian province of Zaporozhye to Russia, reported the German press on Saturday, taken over by the EFE and Agerpres agencies.

General Director of the EWF company, Stefan Schaller, confirmed to the press that he is making this trip to obtain “objective information” about the situation on the ground in that Ukrainian province partially occupied by Russian troops and that he is there “in a personal capacity”, without any related to his position in Germany.

He also participated as an observer in the elections for the Russian State Duma in 2021, then, as now, coming at the invitation of the Russian authorities, who covered the travel costs.

But the statements he gave to the TASS agency, in which he asserts that the referendum for joining Russia is very well organized and that the population comes to vote with enthusiasm, caused indignant reactions.

The company’s board of directors is meeting to decide whether Stefan Schaller can remain a director

Consequently, the German district of Waldeck-Frankenberg, the majority shareholder of the EWF company, explicitly distanced itself from Schaller’s approach and called a meeting of the board of directors for Monday to decide whether he can remain a director.

“The simple visit to the region and the activity of assisting as an observer at the fake referendum can be interpreted as a legitimization of a process contrary to international law”, the administration of this district in western Germany states in a statement.

A group of MPs from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party also made a trip this week to the Ukrainian provinces that Russian troops took full or partial control of after the invasion that began on February 24.

___