TORONTO – The head of the Ukrainian World Congress International Observation Mission to Ukraine’s 2019 elections, Eugene Czolij, concluded a working visit to Kyiv on February 11-15 to launch the mission’s work in Ukraine.
Within the framework of his visit, Mr. Czolij met with representatives of the governing authorities, specifically with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leadership of other international and national observation missions in Ukraine, as well as representatives of civil society in Ukraine working mainly in the areas of media monitoring and communications.
The meetings focused on the preparation of the Ukrainian presidential election on March 31, and the monitoring of this process by the UWC mission. Mr. Czolij noted that the UWC mission will be deploying long-term remote observers to monitor media and short-term observers to monitor the voting process throughout Ukraine and in Ukraine’s diplomatic missions around the world. The UWC mission will encompass the work of the Election Observation Mission of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
On February 11, Mr. Czolij joined a coordination meeting of international observation missions at the Embassy of Canada that discussed issues related to changes in the electoral legislation of Ukraine, deployment of long- and short-term observers, organization of workshops and publication of reports. The efficient exchange of information between missions was discussed during individual meetings with the leadership of observation missions including the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mission Canada – Ukraine Elections 2019 (CANADEM) and the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO).
Meetings with experts in the field of media monitoring and communications touched upon the monitoring activities of long-term remote observers of the UWC mission and coverage of the electoral process in Ukraine by foreign media
Mr. Czolij was accompanied to these meetings by Maryna Iaroshevych, advisor to the head of the UWC mission and director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels.