OSCE Chairman expresses strong support for active OSCE role in Ukraine, Secretary General returns to Kyiv

SOFIA, 6 December 2004 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, called for an active OSCE role in helping Ukraine with the re-run of its presidential elections and asked OSCE Secretary General Jan Kubis to return to Kyiv to take part in the third round-table meeting of political leaders.

The situation in Ukraine was high on the agenda on the first day of the OSCE Ministerial Council, the annual gathering of the 55 OSCE foreign ministers, in Sofia.

There were general calls for peaceful and democratic elections in line with OSCE commitments and the need for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected was stressed.

The Chairman-in-Office called on OSCE participating States to provide a large team of observers for the December 26 elections.

"We need to move quickly and offer support in a way that will live up to the expectations of the people of Ukraine, who want a process that they can trust," he added. "The international community needs to work together in order to best support the democratic process in Ukraine."

Minister Passy repeated his praise for last week's Supreme Court's ruling and underlined the importance of a "made in Ukraine" solution to the crisis.

With the support of Bulgaria's OSCE Troika partners - Foreign Ministers Bernard Bot of the Netherlands and Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia - the Chairman-in-Office asked the Secretary General to return to Kyiv today to join other international negotiators in continuing the process of dialogue designed to resolve the current impasse. This will be the Secretary General's fourth visit to Ukraine in less than two weeks.

"Jan Kubis has my full support and his active involvement demonstrates the commitment of the OSCE to Ukraine," Minister Passy said.

The Chairman-in-Office welcomed financial pledges to support the election observation process made by a number of OSCE countries on Monday.

The OSCE Ministerial Council continues on Tuesday, when speakers will include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary Colin Powel.