MEPs in Kyiv: Ukraine's presidential election meets most international commitments

Published: 9 February 2010 y., Tuesday

Kaimo gyventoja balsuoja  per prezidento rinkimus (Ukraina)
A delegation of eight MEPs confirmed on Monday that both rounds of presidential election in Ukraine met most of the country's international commitments. They were in Ukraine from 5 to 8 February to observe the second round of Ukrainian presidential elections on 7 February.

Paweł Kowal, (ECR, PL), chair of the delegation, said that “free elections were once again held in a country which overcame communism, got through the period of the Second World War and Soviet domination. It is worth bringing these facts to the attention of the international community which is watching Kiev today."

He was accompanied by Alojz Peterle (EPP, SI), Algirdas Saudargas, (EPP, LT), Inese Vaidere, (EPP, LV), Kristian Vigenin (S&D, BG), Barbara Weiler (S&D, DE), Adina-Ioana Valean (ALDE, RO) and Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, DE).

MEPs impressed with running of election, despite some issues

Alojz Peterle said: “We have visited 14 polling stations yesterday, urban and rural, and were impressed with the high level of attention to the rules and procedures. I think we can safely say that Ukraine has raised the level of electoral standards and can be a good example for many other countries. In addition, despite strong polarisation and electoral law changes between the first and the second round of elections, the elections were conducted peacefully and no major tension was felt in the voting stations.”

The EP delegation noted that the election process was carried out correctly but, as Ms Valean said, any functioning democracy also needs a wider, long term legal framework.  Accordingly to Mr Vigenin “this election clearly showed that Ukraine is consistently moving towards political stability and maturity. The next step should be to restart the long postponed reforms of the country for the benefit of Ukrainians.”

Ms Weiler (S&D, DE) emphasised that “it will not be possible to improve the election process in Ukraine without tackling the issue of rules for the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns”.

Ms Vaidere said “I commend Ukrainians on their dedication to democracy, as was visible in the polling stations that we have visited.” She said that “ballot boxes should not be completely clear as this can make is possible for other people in the polling station to see how a voter has voted” and pointed out that candidates still seem to look for holes in the election law in terms of political advertising: “we have noticed many posters on the streets indirectly and clearly promoting one candidate, which Ukrainian election law prohibits.”

Looking to Ukraine's future

Delegation chair Paweł Kowal said: “The door to Europe should be open to Ukraine. Orderly elections are an important signal for the European public opinion, that today Ukraine is a normal European country which has the right to make its European choice. I hope that this choice will be supported by the signing of the Association Agreement and the relaxation of visa requirements. I will be pursuing these goals as head of the EU-Ukraine delegation.”

Rebecca HARMS (Greens/EFA, DE) called on both candidates to accept the result and - in case of doubt - to let the courts decide. "Ukrainian citizens are longing for reasonable and responsible politics, and not for the repetition of the 2004 protests," she said.  "The polls showed," she added," that the next president is facing a major task when it comes to uniting Ukraine. The split between east and west is to be overcome, and common efforts are necessary especially now in times of crisis."

Ms Harms also called on the Commissioner-designate for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle, to put special emphasis on Ukraine, and to support the democratic development in Ukraine.

Press Conference in Strasbourg

Mr Kowal will hold a press conference on the Ukrainian elections at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 10 February at 1430.

 

Šaltinis: europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Millennium development goals: time to shift gear

Recommendations on how EU countries can meet their pledges for fighting hunger, poverty and disease. more »

France moving towards burka baning

France is moving towards a ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in public. Next month the government set to examine a bill banning the burka, amid heated debate over womens rights and religious freedom. more »

China honours earthquake victims

Flags flew at half mast around China, as the country stopped for three minutes to honour the victims of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Yushu, which left at least 2, 064 people dead and 175 missing. more »

First visit of Commissioner Piebalgs to Haiti: launch of the first EU-funded projects for reconstruction

Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development, will travel to Haiti on 23-24 April 2010, to launch the first projects for reconstruction that will be funded by the EU. more »

European air space gradually starts to reopen

The Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido, and the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, in the European Parliament on Tuesday defended the management of the air crisis caused by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano and said that they were confident that the measures adopted by the EU-27 will allow air space to progressively reopen. more »

Flights in Limbo

Stranded in Frankfurt. Volcanic ash from Iceland continues to ground flights across Europe where officials say about 5,000 took off in Europe Sunday compared with the 24,000 that normally would have flown. more »

More power, less plume

Iceland’s Meteorological Office reports tremors within an erupting volcano gained power on Sunday, while the massive plume of ash above its fiery core dropped off radar. more »

Volcanic ash cloud: President Barroso launches European Commission action to address economic consequences

European Commission President Barroso today decided to set up an ad-hoc group to assess the impact of the situation created by the volcanic ash cloud on the air travel industry and the economy in general. more »

Pope visited Malta

Pope Benedict holds Sunday mass in Malta. The Pope’s visit comes at a time when the Catholic Church has been under pressure surrounding a series of sex abuse scandals, and ahead of the Pope’s meeting with sex abuse victims. more »

Warm welcome for MEP observers by voters in first Sudan elections in 25 years

Two MEPs lead the EU's monitoring of the first Sudanese multi-party general elections in nearly 25 years. more »