OSCE PA’s Harstedt stresses right to vote for Ukrainian citizens in Russia

COPENHAGEN, 25 September 2014 – Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), the Special Co-ordinator of the short-term OSCE observer mission for Ukraine’s parliamentary elections, has met with Ukraine’s Charge d’Affaires in Moscow to discuss opportunities for Ukrainian citizens in Russia to participate in the upcoming vote.

Harstedt, who serves as Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, met Ukrainian Charge d’Affaires Ruslan Nimchinskyi on 23 September. He welcomed the intention of Ukrainian authorities to establish voting facilities in several major centers across Russia to help accommodate the 2-3 million Ukrainian citizens in the country. Harstedt and Nimchinskyi also discussed the importance of security and transparency in voting procedures. 

Harstedt further detailed the OSCE’s plans to deploy hundreds of short-term observers, including OSCE parliamentarians from across the OSCE area, to monitor the 26 October vote in Ukraine. 

“Ukrainian citizens in Russia, including the several hundred thousand believed to have fled the fighting this year, must be enfranchised to vote. They are key stakeholders in their country’s future and both Ukraine and Russia must support their active participation,” Harstedt said after the meeting.

Harstedt is in the Russian capital this week to participate in the OSCE PA’s first Helsinki +40 seminar.

While in Moscow, he also met with Alexey Pushkov, the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma. He emphasized the need to secure the voting rights of Ukrainian citizens in Russia and expressed his hope that Russian parliamentarians would participate in the election observation mission. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had expressed support for Russian participation in a recent meeting with OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva. 

On 24 September, Harstedt also met with Bayisa Wak-Woya, the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Russia; Bruno Husquinet, the Deputy Head of the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross; and Svetlana Gannushkina, Chairperson of the Civic Assistance Committee. The humanitarian situation for recently fled Ukrainian citizens and the conditions within the conflict zone were topics of discussion.

For more on the OSCE PA’s election observer mission to Ukraine, click here.