KYIV, 17 March 2004 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) came to Kyiv for a field visit to Ukraine between March 14 and 16. The delegation was led by the Assembly Vice President, Tone Tingsgård, and fell under the framework of the OSCE PA’s program of visiting various OSCE field presences. The delegation included Bjorn Hernaes (Norway), Hugo Coveliers (Belgium) and Programme Officer Paul LeGendre. The purpose of the visit was for the delegation to learn more about the activities of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine and about the political situation in Ukraine taking into account the forthcoming Presidential elections. In addition, the delegation was interested in learning more about constitutional reform and the situation pertaining to freedom of speech.

On March 15, the delegation met with the Speaker of Parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn; members of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly; a member of the Central Election Commission, Yaroslav Davydovych; Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleh Shamshur, and members of the diplomatic community.

The series of meetings were all very successful and took on a form of an open, effective and informative discussion. For instance, at the meeting with Volodymyr Lytvyn, the delegation discussed the preparations that are being carried out prior to the presidential elections in Ukraine. The head of the delegation Tone Tingsgård pointed out that the visit of the OSCE PA was the first move towards the observation of the presidential elections in Ukraine and voiced hope that Ukraine would invite OSCE observers to monitor the elections. She did however regret the fact that the OSCE started paying attention to Ukraine somewhat behind schedule but that it was “better late than never.” At the meeting Lytvyn said that he was pleased with the level of cooperation that existed between the OSCE and Ukraine and expressed confidence that more intensive ties between the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) would materialize. He also clearly pointed out that Ukraine is first and foremost interested in ensuring a fair and transparent presidential election.

On March 16, the OSCE PA attended the Project Coordinator’s office where they were briefed on all of the activities being carried out by the office. Afterwards, a group of NGOs gathered and held a meeting where they also informed the delegation of their activities, concerns as well as how they cooperate with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine. There were nine representatives that attended from the various NGOs, which ranged from freedom of speech and civil society activists.

The previous OSCE PA field visit to Ukraine was conducted in January 2002 and the delegation then recommended the active continuation of the work of the OSCE Project Coordinator. The initiative to organize regular field visits of parliamentarians to OSCE Field Missions became operational in late 2001. These visits enable parliamentarians to observe the activities of the OSCE in the field and to support the important work of the Missions. Since the beginning of the programme more than hundreds of parliamentarians have visited OSCE presences in eleven countries.