MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the elections in Ukraine
5.12.2012 - (2012/2889(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Rebecca Harms, Werner Schulz, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Indrek Tarand, Nicole Kiil-Nielsen on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0544/2012
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine, in particular those of 9 June 2011 on the cases of Yulia Tymoshenko and other members of the former government[1], of 27 October 2011[2] on the current developments in Ukraine and of 24 May 2012 on Ukraine[3],
– having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and Ukraine, which entered into force on 1 March 1998, and to the new association agreement, initialled on 30 March 2012 and not yet signed,
– having regard to the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions on the Ukraine Parliamentary Elections, issued by the International Observation Mission on 29 October 2012,
– having regard to the joint statements by High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle on the parliamentary elections in Ukraine of 29 October 2012 and on the delay in the vote counting of 3 November 2012,
– having regard to the statement made by its President, Martin Schulz on 29 October 2012, on the conduct and results of parliamentary elections in Ukraine,
– having regard to the EU-Ukraine Association Agenda, replacing the Action Plan and endorsed by the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council in June 2009,
– having regard to the communication from the Commission entitled ‘Taking stock of the European Neighbourhood Policy’ of 12 May 2011,
– having regard to the progress report on the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in Ukraine issued on 14 May 2012,
– having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit held in Warsaw on 29/30 September 2011,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas EU integration remains one of the top priorities in the Ukrainian political agenda and one of the main aspirations of Ukrainian society, as well as of present and past governments, regardless of the political forces in power; whereas a stable and democratic Ukraine that respects the principles of the social market economy, the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities and that guarantees fundamental rights is in the interests of both the EU and the Ukrainian people;
B. whereas the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council meeting of 15 May 2012 stated that ‘any progress towards political association and economic integration will depend on Ukraine’s performance, notably in relation to respect for common values and the rule of law’;
C. whereas on 30 March 2012 the Commission and representatives of the Ukrainian Government initialled the EU-Ukraine association agreement aimed at deepening the relations between the two parties and integrating Ukraine in EU policies; whereas the signing of the new agreement has been withheld, making it dependent upon political progress in Ukraine regarding the rule of law and reform of the justice system;
D. whereas the general elections of 28 October 2012 were considered a key test for Ukraine in signalling the irreversibility of the country’s engagement towards the development of a fully-fledged democratic system, the consolidation of the rule of law and the continuation of political reforms;
E. whereas, according to the preliminary findings and conclusions of the International Election Observation, election day was calm and peaceful overall but the election process was characterised by the lack of a level playing field and constituted overall a step backwards, compared with previous elections; whereas significant problems were noted with regard to the vote count and tabulations on several single-mandate constituencies;
F. whereas, in its interim reports, the International Observation Mission had already highlighted the persistent abuse of administrative resources and criticised the fact that the Central Election Commission had processed and dismissed complaints of indirect vote buying behind closed doors;
G. whereas OPORA, an NGO that conducted a long-term independent election observation, concluded that the campaign was characterised by an artificial restriction of competition within the electoral process and by flagrant violations of the principle of equal opportunities for political parties and candidates;
H. whereas EU leaders and high-profile personalities of the Member States have on many occasions expressed their concern at the incarceration and alleged mistreatment of opposition representatives in Ukraine with regard, in particular, to the cases of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Minister of Interiors Yuri Lutsenko, who were denied registration as candidates; whereas their exclusion adversely affected the electoral process;
I. whereas on 21 November the Kyiv Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction in first instance of Yury Lutsenko to two-years of ‘restriction of liberty’ for his signature as Minister of Interior of a decision that allowed the shadowing of a suspect in the case of the poisoning of former President Yuschenko;
J. whereas the leaders of the main three opposition parties have signed a joint appeal to the Central Election Commission, requesting that the violations committed by election commissions be investigated and, in particular, that the ballots in 13 problematic districts be recounted; whereas the same parties staged protest rallies near the Central Election Commission and threatened to boycott the new parliament;
K. whereas serious concerns have been expressed at the delays in the vote count and the announcement of the results; whereas the Central Election Commission has decided to rerun the elections in five single-mandate districts; whereas the United Opposition – Batkivshchyna has announced that it is preparing to challenge the parliamentary election results in disputed constituencies before the European Court of Human Rights;
L. whereas President Yanukovich has instructed the Prosecutor-General to analyse the violations of the laws during elections in single-mandate districts; whereas the Verkhovna Rada has formed a temporary investigatory commission to assess compliance with the electoral law in a number of single-member constituencies;
M. whereas, on 23 March 2012, the server containing the website of Andrey Baranovich (also known as herm1ta), a respected internet researcher, was seized by the Ukrainian police forces on the pretext of ‘having provided free access to malicious software designed to enable computers, automated systems and computer networks to be broken into without authorisation’, while providing an international public service in the form of a software repository;
N. whereas the Verkhovna Rada is examining Bill 8711, a liberticidal piece of legislation that will limit freedom of expression and assembly for those who support the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee recently ruled that this breaches Articles 19 and 26 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights;
1. Welcomes the generally calm and orderly conduct of the parliamentary elections held on 28 October 2012, but regrets that the overall electoral process was marred by many shortcomings and did not meet basic democratic standards, thus constituting a setback for Ukraine’s democratic credentials;
2. Regrets, furthermore, that in the course of the electoral campaign, the Ukrainian authorities were not able to address all the remarks included in the interim reports of the International Observation Mission with regard, in particular, to the abuse of administrative resources, the allegations of bribery and vote buying and the lack of transparency of campaign and party financing;
3. Takes note of the decision of the Central Election Commission, which declared that it was impossible to establish the results of the elections in five single-mandate districts and calls on the Verkhovna Rada to reschedule the elections in the shortest delay;
4. Calls on the Council to make it clear once again that the new association agreement with Ukraine can only be signed once political, judicial and economic reforms are in place, electoral shortcomings are fully addressed and the use of selective justice comes to an end;
5. Considers it, in this regard, of the utmost importance that the EP Monitoring Mission headed by Presidents Aleksander Kwaniewski and Pat Cox continue its work with a view to following closely and scrutinising the judicial cases of imprisoned opposition leaders and discussing thereafter with the Ukrainian authorities the necessary legal reforms;
6. Expresses once again its concern at the widespread perception that judicial measures in these cases were used selectively and warns against possible use of criminal law as a tool for prosecuting political opponents and achieving political ends;
7. Stresses that Ukraine’s European perspective must be based on a policy of systematic and irreversible reforms in a number of important institutional, political, economic and social areas;
8. Calls, in this regard, on the Commission to assist the judicial reform in Ukraine by making better use of the EU capacity-building programme and to consider establishing a High-Level EU Advisory Group to Ukraine to assist the country in its efforts to align with EU legislation, including the judiciary;
9. Stresses that judicial proceedings in Ukraine should be conducted with due diligence, without interference form political stakeholders, and with due respect for freedom of speech and freedom to communicate on the internet, and respect for the knowledge society;
10. Welcomes the signing of the amended visa facilitation agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, which introduces clear improvements in the delivery of visas for Ukrainian citizens, compared with the agreement currently in force; points out, furthermore, that the finalisation of a visa free agreement between the EU and Ukraine will step up and facilitate the exchanges and people-to-people contacts between civil societies thus increasing mutual understanding and providing the opportunity for the Ukrainian public opinion to familiarise with European standards and best practices in all fields;
11. Urges the Ukrainian authorities to ask the Venice Commission to assess Ukraine’s referendum law, which was passed by the parliament on 6 November and signed by the President on 27 November;
12. Calls on the Verkhovna Rada to reject Bill 8711, which limits freedom of expression in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity and which was adopted at first reading in October; points out that this law is in clear breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ratified by the Parliament of Ukraine;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council Europe and the OSCE.
- [1] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0272.
- [2] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0472.
- [3] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0221.