Brussels, 26/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Ukrainian Supreme Court having decided to suspend proclamation of the results of last Sunday's presidential elections, Europeans step up the number of initiatives seeking to contribute to finding a solution to the crisis caused by the results of the second round of elections. After an emissary from the Dutch EU Presidency (a Dutch diplomat: yesterday's EUROPE, pages 4 and 5) was despatched on Thursday, the CFSP High Representative, Javier Solana, was in Kiev on Friday to meet former President Kuchma, Prime Minister Yanukovich and opposition leader Yushchenko. (See EUROPE of 23 November, p.6, on the concerns expressed during their last EU External Relations Council).
After the debate at the Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday (EUROPE of 25 November, p.5), the European Parliament decided to send, as a matter of urgency, a small delegation to Kiev to pave the way for a visit by another delegation made up of representatives of political groups. Furthermore, the situation in Ukraine will be the main theme discussed during the EP plenary, on 1 December in Brussels. Also, that same day, President Borrell is expected to receive the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Volodymir Lytvyn. The President of the European Parliament wrote to Mr Lytvyn to underline the importance that he pays to this visit which, he said, will allow the Parliament to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people and encourage a peaceful solution to the crisis. Josep Borrell also points out in his letter that the EP is keen for Mr Lytvyn to be accompanied on his visit to Brussels by Mr Tarasouk, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament. On Friday afternoon, Javier Solana took part in talks with the two candidates, with outgoing President Kuchma and with other mediators, including Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Boris Geyzlov, President of the Russian Parliament, Leonid Kuchma's spokesman's department said.
Furthermore, MEP Rebecca Harms (Greens, Germany) has announced that she will be in Kiev on 27 November with colleagues from the Bündnis90/Die Grühen, namely the president of this group at the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, and Rainder Steenblok, spokesman on European issues.