Are MPs from Vučić's party observers at the elections in Donetsk?

Five observers from Serbia, including two MPs from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), participated in the elections in the breakaway Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, organized by Russian separatists against the will of the Ukrainian authorities and the EU, which could put Serbia and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić in an awkward position, given that Belgrade officially supports the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, writes the Belgrade media, NAP reports.

The Serbian ambassador to Ukraine, Rade Bulatović, was summoned to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday due to this incident, where, as stated on the ministry's website, he was informed of Kyiv's position on the "participation of 'observers' from Serbian political parties in the 'fake elections' in eastern Ukraine".

The ministry also announced that the state security service is conducting investigations and proceedings against so-called international observers, "representatives of marginal political groups" who have "participated in illegal elections in Donbas" and "violated the national legislation of Ukraine".

The Serbian Prime Minister and head of the SNS has not yet commented on this occasion, but he has repeatedly reiterated the official position that Serbia supports Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Due to its stance on the crisis in Ukraine and its avoidance of joining the European Union's sanctions against Russia, Belgrade has already been under strong pressure from the West several times.

The Ukrainian MFA announced that no respectable international organization or any democratic country has recognized the elections in eastern Ukraine as anything other than pseudo-elections, and accordingly, have not sent official observers.