OSCE parliamentarians to observe upcoming elections in Ukraine

COPENHAGEN, 22 September 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe next month’s parliamentary elections in Ukraine and lead the short-term OSCE observer mission.

Upon the recommendation of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter has designated Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden) as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission for the 26 October vote. Doris Barnett (MP, Germany) will serve as Head of the OSCE PA Delegation, which will consist of parliamentarians from across the OSCE area.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Delegation to observe Ukraine’s 25 May presidential election was one of its largest ever, and OSCE parliamentarians led the OSCE’s short-term observer mission that consisted of some 1,000 monitors in total.

“Under extraordinary circumstances for Ukraine’s society, economy and most of all, security, the country’s institutions and voters must rise to the occasion, as they did during the presidential election earlier this year. An election that adheres to OSCE commitments is a vital precursor for needed reforms and stabilization of the state,” Special Co-ordinator Harstedt said.

“The hundreds of thousands of persons displaced by the conflict are also key to this election, and we call on Ukraine and its neighbors to enable their participation,” he added.

Doris Barnett, the Head of the OSCE PA Delegation, said: “As the election approaches, I urge the candidates to reach out to all Ukrainians and to voters across the country. This election must reinforce reconciliation and respect for all citizens, which means a stronger Ukraine.”

OSCE parliamentary observers will deploy to polling stations across Ukraine, working closely with long-term observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and in co-ordination with colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) and the European Parliament (EP).

The mission will assess the elections against democratic commitments contained in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document.

Kent Harstedt is a Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. He participated in the OSCE PA’s mission to observe Ukraine’s presidential vote earlier this year, deploying to Odessa on election day. Harstedt also participated in a pre-election visit to Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts in eastern Ukraine in late April, alongside current OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva and OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver. He has observed many other elections throughout the OSCE area, including in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and the United States.

Doris Barnett is a Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and serves as Head of Germany’s Delegation to the Assembly. She also participated in the OSCE PA’s mission to observe Ukraine’s 2014 presidential vote, traveling to Lviv on election day. Barnett had led the OSCE PA’s pre-election visit to Lviv in mid-May. She served as Head of the OSCE PA Delegation for the presidential election in Azerbaijan last autumn.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has observed parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2012, in addition to presidential elections in 2004, 2010 and 2014.

Since 1993, more than 5,000 OSCE parliamentarians and staff have observed more than 130 different elections in more than 30 countries.

For more information about the OSCE PA’s election monitoring work, click here.