The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said that the criticism by the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation Walburga Habsburg Douglas and head of the OSCE long-term observer mission Audrey Glover of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine is their personal opinion and not the conclusion of all the members of the delegation.
After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine, Glover said that there was
backsliding in the democratic process in Ukraine, and Duglas noted that in order
to hear the position of the key politicians in the country, one should not have
to go to see them in prison, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
said.
“However, taking into account the statements of other observers, it becomes
clear that the statements by Duglas and Glover are their personal thoughts –
groundless and emotional, and not the result of observations of all members of
the delegation,” the Foreign Ministry’s press service said.
The Foreign Ministry also quoted former head of the PACE Mevlut Cavusoglu,
who stated that the statements of heads of the PACE and OSCE mission do not
reflect the findings of PACE members, which were voiced at the internal meeting
on Monday.
“Most of my colleagues and I have said that we believe the technical
organization of the voting was very good,” the Foreign Ministry quoted Cavusoglu
as saying.
The ministry also noted that other observers also questioned Douglas’ and
Glover’s judgments and suggested that their personal emotions affected the way
they were performing their official duties in this particular case.
“The integrity and credibility of the OSCE Election Observation Mission’s
report has been threatened. What counts most is that such judgments even
contradict what the opposition party members are saying about the elections in
Ukraine,” it said.
The Foreign Ministry cited opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk as saying
that, while speaking with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, they
“discussed further plans as to how to work in the new parliament.”
“The Foreign Ministry welcomes the opposition’s determination to work
constructively in the new Verkhovna Rada and expects that a consensus between
the Ukrainian political forces regarding the need to switch from discussing the
elections to working for the country’s good would be perceived as the Ukrainian
people’s will, which should be respected by our foreign partners,” the Foreign
Ministry said.
