Members of the Riigikogu observe presidential elections in Ukraine

NordenBladet —

Members of the Estonian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are in Ukraine to observe the presidential elections held on Sunday.

Head of the Estonian delegation Mart Nutt said that the situation in Ukraine was unpredictable and most probably the President would not be elected in the first round of the elections. In that case, a second round will be held on 21 April. Three candidates, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is the leading candidate, incumbent president Petro Poroshenko and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, have a real chance of progressing to the second round of voting.

Nutt added that the President of Ukraine was elected directly, and as Ukraine was a semi-presidential republic, its president had relatively extensive powers. “Election of the president may make Ukrainian-Russian relations tenser. The relations between Estonia and Ukraine are good, and the presidential elections probably will not have any impact on them,” Nutt said.

The presidential elections in Ukraine are also observed by members of the Estonian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Jaanus Marrandi and Mati Raidma. The members of the Estonian delegation will be staying in the capital of Ukraine Kiev and its surroundings.

Deploying of election observation missions has been an important part of OSCE’s activities since 1993. The missions monitor whether the elections are conducted legitimately and according to democratic standards. Nearly 110 observers participate in the OSCE mission in Ukraine.

Riigikogu Press Service
Veiko Pesur
phone: +372 631 6353, 372 55 590 595
e-mail: veiko.pesur@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Source: Parliament of Estonia