MELITOPOL, September 24. /TASS/. Participation in the referendum among residents of the Zaporozhye Region is voluntary, and, contrary to Western media reports, there is no pressure whatsoever on them, a German observer told TASS on Saturday.
"Of course, we can see that the Western media has claimed that people are being forced to vote here and that the voting is being conducted in a tense atmosphere, but, being here, I can see with my own eyes that people are voting voluntarily, and we can see the difference between how things are being reported and what’s happening on site," Stefan Schaller, a manager at Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg, said.
The German observer also discussed this with Melitopol Mayor Galina Danilchenko after she had cast her vote earlier on Saturday. "It is very strange to read Western media reports alleging that pressure is being put on voters here, while one can see with one’s own eyes how calm everything has been here," Schaller said, when the mayor asked him if he had any specific comments on the referendum.
In her turn, Danilchenko said that the Western media may be exaggerating things, while people "are happy about the developments here so far."
The Lugansk and the Donetsk People’s Republics as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye regions began their vote to join Russia at 08:00 am on Friday. Voting will last until Tuesday.