OSCE ODIHR ready to help prepare local elections in Donbas
KYIV. June 11 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR) Director Michael Link discussed upcoming local elections in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions at a meeting in Poland.
"Michael Link reaffirmed the OSCE ODIHR's willingness to be actively engaged in the process of preparations for and the organization of local elections in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including through providing expert support to Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in commenting on the meeting's outcomes.
Klimkin thanked Link for an ODIHR delegation's visit to Ukraine in May to assess the security situation in Donbas. The Ukrainian foreign minister also pointed out that elections in these districts must be held in line with Ukrainian law and OSCE standards, and in the presence of an ODIHR monitoring mission, as is stipulated by the Minsk agreements.
