Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin urges the Verkhovna Rada to consider amendments to the legislation envisaging digital voting.
“We know that in 2014, there were over 70,000 [Ukrainians who voted abroad]. There are now 56,000 of them. The voter turnout is much lower […] I’ve said all this; I am calling for digital voting. That’s the only way we can attract all the Ukrainians living abroad. It can be done; I urge the Verkhovna Rada to discuss relevant amendments to the law,” Klimkin told reporters in Kyiv on April 5.
If the law is amended, even if more polling stations are opened abroad, and not only at the premises of diplomatic agencies, it still won’t be able to resolve the problem, he said.
Klimkin additionally urged Ukrainians living abroad to participate more actively in the voting.
International partners pledged that the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election passed in line with democratic standards, he said.
Klimkin explained that, as foreign minister, he cannot comment on electoral campaigns.
“As regards the current hype, let each Ukrainian makes a relevant conclusion for themselves,” the Russian foreign minister said, commenting on the taking of medical tests by the two presidential candidates who have made it to the runoff, Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Petro Poroshenko.
“I will unfortunately most likely be away from Kyiv that day, but if I were there, it would be interesting [to attend the debates at the Olympiyskiy Stadium] […]. It’s important for me that everything happens in line with the law, principles, and conscience,” Klimkin said in commenting on the debates between the two presidential candidates.
