EU leaders eye "enhanced" ties with Ukraine after new poll

17/12/2004

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/041217084454.j2sif4wf

EU leaders hope to reinforce their relations with Ukraine after next week's rerun presidential vote, which must be free and fair, according to a draft text Friday of their conclusions at a Brussels summit.

The European Union, which sent mediators to help resolve a crisis caused by mass street protests over a flawed November 21 presidential poll, said it was looking for an "enhanced and distinctive relationship."

The draft text said the December 26 rerun, ordered after the supreme court annulled the November election, must enable voters to "freely decide."

It went on: "It is now of utmost importance that the positive developments are sustained, and that the Ukrainian electorate can now freely decide on the candidate of its own choice."

The vote is widely expected to be won by Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western candidate who has said he wants to bring his nation closer to NATO and the EU.

His supporters took to the streets in their tens of thousands after claims that the November poll -- officially won by pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich -- was massively flawed.

The supreme court eventually ordered a second runoff ballot.

The draft EU text stressed Ukraine's strategic importance and said Brussels had a common interest with Kiev in deepening political, economic and cultural ties.
The leaders also offered their support in monitoring the December 26 vote, notably by sending international observers.