OSCE advises Ukraine to reconsider its position regarding Russian election observers
OSCE Chairman and Slovak Foreign Minister, Miroslav Laichak, suggested that the Ukrainian side reconsider the decision to refuse Russian observers to work in the presidential elections in Ukraine on March 31, reports Radio Liberty.
During a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Laichak "expressed regret" that the Ukrainian parliament on February 7 adopted a law that prohibits issuing accreditation to Russian citizens as observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
"The OSCE Chairman urged Ukraine’s leadership to search for all possible ways that will ensure the accreditation of all observers from the OSCE Office," said the report.
However, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said that his country was ready to accept any number of international observers from any country, but not from Russia. Klimkin proposed to “put an end to all discussions” on this topic.
On February 8, Klimkin wrote on Facebook that in early January, he wrote a letter informing the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights that the Foreign Ministry would not accept documents from Russian official observers.
On February 7, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a bill that prohibits citizens of the Russian Federation from being observers at the elections in Ukraine.