Members of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Supervisory Board have congratulated President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on holding democratic presidential elections and invited him to take part in the YES conference in September.
The Yalta European Strategy Board members have noted the fair and transparent presidential elections in Ukraine, emphasizing their full compliance with the election standards of the OSCE/ODIHR,” the presidential press service said on Saturday.
“The Head of State was invited to take part in the YES conference in September,” the message reads.
The president stressed that these elections are extremely important for Ukraine because it is about independence, the sovereignty of our country. “Ukraine is struggling for its sovereignty and independence in the face of Russian aggression and the intervention of the aggressor state in the course of the electoral campaign,” Poroshenko said.
He emphasized that the continuation of reforms on the way to full membership in NATO and future membership in the European Union was critical.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted the high level of democracy demonstrated by Ukraine during the presidential elections and congratulated the Head of State on the successful implementation of reforms in our country.
“I want to congratulate with free and fair elections, which is extremely important for Ukraine’s authority in the world. But I also want to congratulate you, Mr. President, on the reforms that have been implemented over the last four-five years. We need to clearly understand that Ukraine has achieved much more in the reforms in recent years than in its entire history of independence,” Rasmussen emphasized.
He also expressed hope that the president would continue his path of reforms for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the EU.
In turn, Prime Minister of Sweden (1991-1994), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden (2006-2014) Carl Bildt noted the high level of organization of the election process and congratulated the president of Ukraine on democratic elections, the first round of which took place on March 31.
“These elections were fair and completely free,” Bildt said, noting that all the international observers who had observed the first round of the presidential elections in Ukraine had confirmed that.
The president of Ukraine stressed that despite Russia’s constant aggressive intervention, Ukraine had managed to secure fair elections without Russian observers, who “usually prepare their reports before the day of voting.”
The parties also discussed the importance of the elections in Ukraine for the whole of the European continent, its security and development. Separately, the issue of coordination of joint actions to counter Russian interference in the electoral process in Ukraine was discussed.
