Jean-Claude Frecon, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, has described the November 2 elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR) People's Republics as anti-democratic and "counterproductive".

"I roundly condemn the holding of "elections" on November 2 in the two self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, which will take place in total contradiction with the laws and the Constitution of Ukraine," Frecon said in a statement.

"These so-called elections have no democratic value whatsoever. They are not only useless; they are actually counterproductive to the fragile peace process that was initiated in Minsk," he said.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a pan-European political assembly, which was established in 1994 to promote local and regional democracy. Today it includes 47 member states.