KYIV, 3 March 2004 – The OSCE Secretary General, Jan Kubis, came for an official visit to Ukraine from March 1-2, 2004. During the visit he discussed such matters as the role of the OSCE in the upcoming presidential elections, the function of the office of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, constitutional reform, current political development in the country as well as the media situation in Ukraine.

The Secretary General met with President Leonid Kuchma, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Konstiantyn Hryschenko, Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, representatives from the opposition and the Ukrainian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

According to the Secretary General, the existing political developments in Ukraine and constitutional reform were a focal topic of discussion in all the meetings that were held during his visit. On the issue of political reform, the Secretary General said: “This is the affair of the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian parliament.” The final word on the issue of political reform should rest with the Verkhovna Rada.

The media situation in Ukraine was also discussed at length during several meetings. In particular, the Secretary General received numerous complaints from the opposition on examples of attacks on media freedom.

With respect to the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, the Secretary General pointed out that the OSCE through the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) would be sending a sufficient number of observers to participate. This decision, which still requires the approval from the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament), was fully supported by President Kuchma. Kubis said that the ODIHR monitors would be working not only on the day of the election, but that a strong, widespread and long term engagement of ODIHR would be dispatched, according to the mandates of the various OSCE institutions and structures. Dispatching both a long-term and short-term observation mission, with hundreds of volunteers to keep track of the situation in Ukraine is of vital importance in order to strengthen the conditions for fair and transparent elections.

The Secretary General praised the cooperation that exists in the economic and environmental protection sectors when looking at Ukraine’s participation in the OSCE. In the end Kubis emphasized Ukraine’s active role as a member of the OSCE and revealed his optimism in the continuation of further constructive relations.