Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-13-Speech-4-026"
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"en.20050113.3.4-026"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I was one of the observers who spent Christmas in Kiev, and I am sure I speak for everyone who was there when I say that this political event made it easier for us to spend the festive season in a different way for a change.
The elections were perfectly in line with OSCE standards, and the few irregularities, such as the sudden decision by the Constitutional Court, were handled relatively well. What did, of course, help the elections to be properly conducted was the public interest in Europe and throughout the world, but that public interest and that attention must not flag now, for the democratic process is not yet complete. We observers were impressed by the commitment and determination showed by the citizens – as demonstrated by the high turnout – and not just by experts and elites. We saw a vast number of people walking great distances – as they were obliged to – in order to reach the polling stations.
What I found impressive and heartening was that the interest and involvement of women in this democratisation process and at the polling stations went without saying. I cannot produce a quotation from the Bible to illustrate that, but these are signs of a society composed of citizens who do not wait for their government’s decisions. I hope that this democratic process will also prove an incentive to Ukraine’s neighbouring states, specifically to Belarus.
What is Europe to do now? For a start, the country has been divided and polarised during the election and we must not make these divisions any deeper. Secondly, we must consider what help and what prospects we can give Ukraine. The existing concept of neighbourhood aid will have to be radically rethought if we do not offer the prospect of membership within the next two or three years."@en1
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