Ukraine Elections: MEPs Criticise Preparations, But Praise Voters’ Aspirations

MEPs have expressed strong criticism regarding the preparation of parliamentary elections in Ukraine, but also support to the Ukrainian people for the peaceful process and high turnout. These are the preliminary observations of an official delegation of 15 MEPs in the country.

Pawel Kowal (ECR, PL), who led the 15-strong delegation of MEPs to observe the elections – in the framework of the OSCE/ODIHR mission – pointed to the imprisonment of two prominent opposition leaders, new electoral legislation lacking guarantees for good application and the lack of opportunity for candidates to campaign on equal terms.

However – noting the peaceful and high rate of participation – he said, that the European Parliament has “a special commitment to the Ukrainian people to raise all of the issues which happened during the campaign and clarify all doubts. We also intend to keep a close eye on the way in which the winning parties will work with the opposition in the Verkhovna Rada (Urkaine parliament)”.

OSCE/ODIHR mission

Parliament participated in the framework of the OSCE/ODIHR long-standing Election Observation Mission.

“The 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine were characterized by the lack of a level playing field, primarily by the abuse of administrative resources, lack of transparency of campaign and party financing and lack of balanced media coverage”, says the joint preliminary report of OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission of more than 800 observers, of which MEPs formed a part.