OSCE Chairman concerned about presidential election in Ukraine

SOFIA, 24 November 2004 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, is concerned over the present situation in Ukraine, caused by the significant shortcomings in the second round of the presidential election reported by the international election observation mission.

The Chairman-in-Office called on all sides in Ukraine to pursue peaceful dialogue and refrain from violence and inflammatory language.

"I am very concerned that both rounds of the presidential election in Ukraine, as witnessed by international observers, failed to meet a considerable number of OSCE commitments and showed serious shortcomings," the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said.

"I urge the authorities to investigate thoroughly, in a proactive and timely manner, the irregularities which were identified. These irregularities should be redressed within existing legal deadlines. In this regard, full co-operation of the Central Election Commission with the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission is necessary, including by providing election data in a fully transparent manner."

The International Observation Mission concluded in a preliminary statement on Monday that state executive authorities and the Central Election Commission displayed a lack of will to conduct a genuine democratic election process.

The Mission included 563 observers from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.