Newsletters / Ukraine Has Demonstrated It’s on the Path of Democratic Values

Following the conclusion of Ukrainian elections, Mikhail Khodorkovsky issued the following statement:

My congratulations to the people of Ukraine on the presidential election as a fait accompli. In spite of all the difficulties encountered in various parts of the country both by the organizers and by independent observers, the election was conducted in a commendable manner.

My thanks to everyone who has responded to the call and gave their assistance to the EPDE (European Platform for a Democratic Election) observer mission, which also involved Open Russia. Among others, they are the core members of the project Citizen Observer, St. Petersburg Observer, the associations The Voice and Sonar from Russia, Ukraine’s Voter Committee (UVC), and the OPORA Civil Network.

I thank all the organizers of the mission, as well as the observers from across the globe who, in what was one difficult situation, had the courage to come and give their support to the democratic process and people’s freedom of expression. I thank everyone who helped the EPDE mission and those who did not interfere with it. International monitoring has made the Ukrainian people’s choice even more transparent.

Special thanks to all the Russian volunteers, almost a thousand in total, who agreed to attend the poll: including those who, due to misunderstandings with the Central Electoral Committee, could not be at the polling stations, and those who ended up working during the vote. It required a double dose of courage from you. As a result, international EPDE observers have visited a total of 1,153 polling stations.

I am happy that Ukraine has demonstrated to the entire world that it has chosen Europe and has embarked on the path of democratic values. And, as I said before, I am convinced that, sooner or later, Russia will join in. In my opinion, despite the current confrontation, Ukraine and Russia are destined to continue on the path of history together. Our next goal is an honest election in Russia.

Read more about Open Russia’s activities in Ukraine here.