Russian and Ukrainian Election Observers unite in solidarity to observe presidential elections in Ukraine 25 May

Kiyv, 23rd May 2014

The Russian citizens’ observers will contribute to the overall international monitoring of these important elections for Ukraine and Europe. All members of the mission have experience from monitoring elections in Russia on behalf of the renowned Russian election watchdog organization Golos. The Russian citizens’ observers complement the work of the prominent Ukrainian election observation organizations OPORA and Committee of Voters of Ukraine, who already have 6000 domestic observers in activity all over the country. The Ukrainian and Russian NGOs are both members of the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE).

“This mission is an extraordinary signal of solidarity between Russian and Ukrainian citizens”,  says Lilia Shibanova, Director Golos –“It underscores the citizens’ will to stand together for peace and democracy in both countries”.

850 Russian volunteers have expressed their readiness to observe these elections in partnership with their Ukrainian colleagues. Due to a protracted process of obtaining accreditation from Ukrainian authorities, this mission has been dramatically reduced in numbers so that tomorrow a smaller group of round 150 Russian volunteers will meet their Ukrainian counterparts in 8 out of 25 oblasts.

The observation mission is financially supported by the Open Russia Foundation of Mikhail Khodorkovski, the European Commission and the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation.

The mission will follow international standards for election observation with the aim to support free and fair elections in Ukraine.