Brussels, 02/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the Ukrainian presidential election, blighted by many irregularities, the High Representative of the European Union, Javier Solana, made the following declaration, "The Presidential elections constituted an important test for democracy in Ukraine. I am particularly pleased with the high turnout to the polling stations. This clearly demonstrates the importance of these elections to all those involved. I am concerned by initial reports from the Organisations for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), that the elections did not meet a considerable number of European standards for democratic elections. The Ukrainian authorities have now the opportunity to act upon the OSCE's concerns prior to the second round of the elections on 21 November. It is essential that all candidates benefit from equal access to state media and that they are given equal campaign conditions".
The OSCE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO deployed around 600 observers for the first round of the presidential election on 31 October. In a join press statement, these organisations and institutions criticised an electoral process blighted by numerous irregularities and did not hesitate to describe it as a "step backward from the 2002 elections. Observers pointed to manipulation of electoral lists, control of the media, obstruction of opposition activists, deployment of law and order forces in voting booths and numerous cases of multiple voting.
At the end of the first round, the former president of the Central Bank, Viktor Iouchtchenko, often described as the pro-western candidate, remains in the running with prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, who benefits from Moscow's support and that of outgoing president Leonid Koutchma. According to official results, they are neck and neck and have around 40% of the votes cast on 31 October.