Press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

VIENNA, 15 February 2010 - The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

OSCE PA's Joao Soares denies claims of video reports on election fraud in Ukraine

COPENHAGEN, 15 February 2010 -- The head of the OSCE short-term election observers during the recent Ukraine presidential election, Joao Soares, has no information or evidence of any fraud in the election.

"We have no such information and the OSCE mission, with more than 500 OSCE observers, has no video reports showing election fraud, said Mr. Soares, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short term observers, in a statement.

"As a candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko has the right to submit any complaints about the election to the court, but the OSCE does not have any video evidence of election fraud as she reportedly claimed in a speech last Saturday," Mr. Soares also said.

Mr. Soares led the OSCE short-term election observation mission in both rounds of the Ukrainian presidential election and delivered the post-election statement on behalf of the OSCE on 8 February. He today reiterated his support for the statement, which said that it "met most OSCE commitments" and that "the professional, transparent and honest voting and counting should serve as a solid foundation for a peaceful transition of power. "

Contact:
Klas Bergman, Director of Communications, OSCE PA
Tel. +45 33 37 80 40; Mob. +45 60 10 83 80; Email: klas@oscpea.dk