You're reading: Ukraine has not invited CIS observers to monitor elections, but they still may come

Ukraine has not officially invited observers from the CIS to monitor the upcoming presidential elections, but such observers may address the Central Elections Commission (CEC) to obtain accreditation directly, without an invitation from Kyiv, acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deschytsia said.

“We have invited observers from the OSCE/ODIHR [the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights], the OSCE PA [Parliamentary Assembly], the Council of Europe PA, and GUAM [a regional association of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova], but we did not invite observers from the CIS PA,” Deschytsia said in an exclusive interview with Interfax.

An invitation to the CIS Parliamentary Assembly should be forwarded by the Ukrainian parliament based on a Foreign Ministry recommendation, Deschytsia said. However, any observers may monitor the elections without an invitation if they wish to do so, he said.

“They are supposed to be registered with the CEC, and the CEC will make a decision on whether to accredit them as observers,” he said.

“As of today, CIS observers have not asked for accreditation,” he said.

It was reported earlier that Ukraine renounced its CIS chairmanship in 2014 and warned that it was considering the possibility of quitting from the CIS for its inefficiency.

The full version of the interview will be available later on the Interfax-Ukraine website.