The German Stefan Schaller traveled to the Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine as an election observer. He expressly praised the conduct of the referenda on Russian television. This will probably cost him his job.
Because he accompanies the sham referendums in Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine as an election observer, the managing director of the North Hessian utility Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg (EWF), Stefan Schaller, is to be released from his duties. The Council of Elders and the district committee of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district spoke out in favor of this on Saturday with a large majority, as the district announced on its website.
“With this clear positioning, we will go into consultations with the EWF committees,” said District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst, according to the announcement. “Russia’s forced referendums in Ukraine are hypocritical and contrary to international law and a pretext to appropriate the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. We strongly condemn this illegal annexation.”
According to the announcement, a final decision on Schaller’s release should be made on Monday. Then the supervisory boards of the local energy supplier of the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg and the Verbands-Energie-Werk Gesellschaft für Renewable Energies mbH and the EWF association board should meet in a meeting.
According to media reports, Schaller was invited by Russia to monitor the elections. The EWF managing director confirmed his commitment as an election observer to the “HNA” (Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine). “I wanted to get an idea of the situation on site. Also because I believe that objective information can never be wrong,” he said. His stay has nothing to do with his position as managing director of the Waldeck-Frankenberger energy supplier. “It’s purely private, I took vacation for it,” emphasized Schaller. The EWF could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, also joined the debate on Saturday. “I appeal to the District Administrator of Waldeck-Frankenberg as Chairman of the EWF Supervisory Board: Mr. van der Horst, immediately throw out Stefan Schaller, who is aiding the Russian war of aggression,” Melnyk demanded on Twitter. He announced that criminal proceedings would be instituted against the EWF manager in the Ukraine.
