Question of the Week: What should the EU’s response be to criticism of the elections in Ukraine?

Date: 04/11/04

POLISH MEP Grazyna Staniszewska is a member of the Parliament's ad hoc delegation to monitor Ukraine's presidential elections.

We asked her: What should the EU's response be to criticism of the elections in Ukraine?

Staniszewska: It is true that the Ukrainian government tried to diminish the chances of the opposition in the presidential elections. The opposition did not have access to most of the public media. The bank accounts of the only TV station showing all the candidates (Canal 5) were blocked and its broadcasting capabilities limited.

Printing houses producing posters for [the challenger] Viktor Yushchenko's team were raided by fiscal control and youth activists supporting him were detained.

But we could not say that the recent elections in Russia, which were not stained by any such irregularities, were better - the Kremlin did not even allow any serious contra-candidate to Vladimir Putin to appear. In Ukraine there is an authentic, strong challenger, a full mobilization of society, which tries to scrutinize the actions of the regime.

I have not experienced such mobilization and such a spirit of unity among people since the time of the Solidarity movement in Poland.

This looks like a revolutionary movement - a 'chestnut revolution', as people say in Ukraine. What is happening now is a triumph of democracy and the birth of civil society, things that you can only dream of in Russia.

The EU cannot turn its back on this country and wait neutrally for the development of events. It should clearly and strongly express its discontent with the actions of the Ukrainian government.

It should initiate a programme of assistance, addressed to the youth, non-governmental organizations and universities. Ukraine is a big country with 50 million people. The EU cannot ignore such a big and important neighbour. It must help the chestnut revolution.

Question answered by Polish MEP Grazyna Staniszewska, who is a member of the European Parliament's ad hoc delegation to monitor Ukraine's presidential elections.

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