Brussels, 02/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the Portuguese presidency of the EU, and the high representative for the CFSP, Javier Solana welcomed the fact that last Sunday's elections in Ukraine had gone well.
They all consider that the election complied with democratic election standards. The Portuguese presidency, however, noted some “concerns” identified by the OSCE's International Election Observation Mission “including the poor quality of voter lists” and it underlines “the need to further strengthen the electoral and constitutional framework in order to consolidate the democratic process in Ukraine”. José Manuel Barroso believes that the fact that the elections were conducted well “should pave the way for the establishment of a new government that could resume the reform process very soon and meet the high expectations of the Ukrainian people”. Javier Solana also called for the swift formation of a new government that was “stable” and capable “of pursuing necessary domestic reforms”. This would “also give a positive signal to other countries in the region”. In the same tone, the presidency called upon “all parties to respect the results of the elections and act in accordance with democratic norms”. It also “urges parties to engage in constructive talks in order to establish swiftly a government and ensure the necessary political stability for Ukraine”. The presidency and Mr Solana also provided assurances of EU support for the Ukraine in pursuing reforms. The high representative confirmed the EU's commitment to deepening its relations with Kiev, “the quality of which depends on the quality of Ukraine's democracy and reforms”.
On Tuesday at the end of the morning, the party of the regions supporting the pro-Russian prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, were leading with 34.17% of the vote, ahead of the pro-western block headed by Yulia Timochenko (30.8%), according to the central electoral commission following exit polls carried out in 94.17% of the voting booths. Mr Yushechenko's pro-west Our Ukraine was in third place with 14.29% of the vote. The Communist Party received 5.37% of the votes while the small Lytvyn bloc obtained 3.98%. If this result is borne out, with 2.95% of the votes, the Socialist Party is not expected to be able to enter the assembly because a minimum threshold of 3% has been set. (ol)