You're reading: Lytvyn sees Clinton-Ashton letter as a proposal for joint action plan after elections

A letter by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton regarding the parliamentary elections in Ukraine is balanced and confirms the interest of the international community in Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn has said.

“I think this is additional significant evidence that the Ukrainian elections are taking place not only in Ukraine. This is also evidence that Ukraine is of interest to Europe and the United States. I think this is the finale of the election campaign. On these days, in these hours, political parties and participants in the election campaign are making their closing statements, assessing the results of the election campaign, again reminding people of themselves and urging them to vote. I think that this letter, this article, is in line with general election processes,” Lytvyn said live on the parliament’s Rada television channel on Thursday, while commenting on the letter published in The New York Times.

“In principle, I think that [the letter] is balanced,” he said.

Lytvyn noted that in their address, Ashton and Clinton positively assess the years lived by Ukraine as an independent state and focus on issues that have long been known and about which much has been said, including that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko cannot participate in the current parliamentary elections.

“I would consider it [the letter] as a proposal for a joint action plan in the post-election period,” he said.

As reported, Clinton and Ashton said in an article published in The New York Times on October 24 that the Ukrainian authorities have to ensure that the right to political participation is upheld and to provide for fair media access for all candidates.

“These are not the European Union’s elections or America’s elections. They are Ukraine’s. This is a moment when Ukraine’s leaders should deliver for their citizens. They expect President Viktor Yanukovych and his government to address these concerns, especially to ensure that the right to political participation is upheld and to provide for fair media access for all candidates,” reads the article.

“At the moment, there are some worrying trends, as confirmed by the latest interim report by the election observation mission of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,” they said in the article.