United States Mission to the OSCE

Statement on Re-Running of Second
Presidential Election Round in Ukraine

As delivered by Deputy Representative Paul W. Jones
to the Permanent Council, Vienna

December 9, 2004

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

All of us in the OSCE community have been closely following events in Ukraine. We all have an interest in a swift, peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine through a democratic process.

The United States reiterates its standing call on all parties to cooperate fully in efforts leading to this goal.

We welcome the important steps taken by Ukraine's leadership to move towards resolution of the electoral crisis.

We also appreciate the statement by the Ukrainian representative this morning

The United States supports holding a free, fair and transparent election on December 26 that ensures an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian authorities must make every effort to implement the decisions of December 8 and to avoid fraud and abuse so that the process can win public confidence.

The United States reiterates its support for the contributions of international facilitators, notably President Kwasniewski, President Adamkus, EU High Representative Solana and the CiO’s representative, OSCE Secretary General Kubis.

Mr. Chairman, as U.S. Secretary of State Powell stated during our just concluded Sofia Ministerial, countries of the former Soviet Union can and should have friends to the east and west. Secretary Powell emphasized that the concept of “spheres-of-influence” is not relevant to the situation in Ukraine.

The issue in Ukraine is one of ensuring that people can exercise their right to choose their leaders through a legitimate democratic process.

This is a principle all participating States have committed to support. As President Bush has said, our common goal is to see the will of the people prevail.

The United States welcomes confirmation from Ukraine that its invitation to the OSCE to observe its presidential election remains valid for the re-running of the second round on December 26.

We commend ODIHR for rising to the challenge of fielding one of the OSCE’s largest election observation missions ever in so little time.

The United States stands ready to meet and echoes the call of the Chairman-in-Office on December 4 for participating States to provide the OSCE with the resources – both financial and human – to carry out this critical election observation mission.

Ukrainian authorities should embrace and implement ODIHR’s preliminary recommendations – issued on December 6 – as a blueprint for running a credible, transparent election.

We commend ODIHR for providing this valuable service to the Ukrainian Government and people, which once again demonstrates what a valuable resource the Office is for all participating States. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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