Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Presidential Elections of Ukraine (Run-off Election)

February 12, 2010

On February 8 (Mon), the International Election Observation Mission dispatched by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe / the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) released the evaluation report on the Presidential Election of Ukraine (Run-off Election) held on February 7 (Sun). In the evaluation report the OSCE/ODIHR confirmed that the Presidential Election had been carried out transparently and democratically without serious confusion and had met most international commitments. The reports from Japanese observers participated in the OSCE/ODIHR mission and the other Japanese observers registered at the Central Election Commission for monitoring activity were also similar to the evaluation report of the OSCE/ODIHR mission. The Government of Japan recognizes that the Presidential Election was conducted positively and in a manner as described in the OSCE report.
The Government of Japan expects that the Ukrainian people will be united towards further stability and development of the country under the leadership of the new President to be inaugurated, and has intentions to strengthen further the relations between Japan and Ukraine.

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