October 24, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today released the following statement ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Ukraine:
“Canada commends the people of Ukraine for their show of resiliency and determination for a better future, as they prepare to head to the polls for a second time this year.
“With reports emerging of sporadic violence in the eastern parts of the country, we call on the Putin regime and Russian-backed militants to lay down their arms and refrain from all activities that could interfere with Ukraine’s electoral process. As history has shown, intimidation tactics and violence will not prevent the people of Ukraine from exercising their democratic right to vote for a sovereign and united country.
“Canada has a long history of supporting elections in Ukraine and is proud to be contributing some 300 observers to monitor Sunday’s elections, making it our eighth consecutive electoral observer mission to the country and second this year.
“The dedicated and experienced Canadian men and women who make up our bilateral election observation mission, led by head of mission Senator Raynell Andreychuk, are complemented by Canadian observers with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. These observers are on the ground working to support the advancement of freedom and democracy by assessing whether these elections are in line with international democratic standards.”
For updates on Ukraine’s election from the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv, follow @CanEmbUkraine on Twitter.
A backgrounder follows.
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Canada is committed to supporting Ukraine and to the advancement of free and fair parliamentary elections. To that end, Canada has once again sent some 300 Canadian observers to Ukraine to monitor and report on the October parliamentary elections.
The election observers are being funded as part of $11 million in measures to help advance democracy in Ukraine that Stephen Harper announced on April 23, 2014. The commitment is in line with Canada’s deployment of 304 Canadians during the presidential election of May 25, 2014.
Canadian support includes a bilateral mission to Ukraine of 186 short- and long-term observers, as well as 102 observers in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Parliamentary Election Observation Mission and a delegation of eight parliamentarians taking part in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Election Observation Mission.
This project has deployed a robust Canadian bilateral election observer mission composed of 186 observers. This includes approximately 36 long-term observers and 150 short-term observers. Together, they are undertaking electoral analysis and stakeholder engagement and supporting the Canadian election observer mission.
Canada is providing financial support for 12 Canadian long-term observers and 90 Canadian short-term observers for the parliamentary elections.
This project has deployed a delegation of eight Canadian parliamentarians to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Election Observation Mission for the parliamentary elections.
