Ukraine refuses to register 24 OSCE ODIHR observers from Russia
KYIV. March 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Central Election Commission has registered 660 observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR) and refused to register another 24 nominated by the OSCE ODIHR, who are Russian citizens.
The decision was made at the CEC meeting on Wednesday.
Under the presidential elections law, "an official observer, in particular from an international organization, may not be a citizen of a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state or an occupying state," the CEC said, citing a Verkhovna Rada resolution declaring Russia an aggressor state.
The CEC also registered 33 official observers: 20 from the Committee for Open Democracy, five from the Czech Republic, two from Belgium and six from the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development.
Thus, a total of 1,820 official observers from 15 international organizations and 12 foreign countries have been registered to monitor the presidential election in Ukraine on March 31.