“This election met most of OSCE and Counicl of Europe commitments. Civil and political rights were respected, including freedom of assembly, association and expression. Election day was conducted in an efficient and orderly manner”, the statement by International Election Observation Mission of 18 January 2010 reads.

International observers from OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE/ODIHR, European Parliament, PACE noted that the election demonstrated respect for civil and political rights, and offered voters a genuine choice between candidates representing diverse political views.

The European Commission also made its statements on the presidential elections in Ukraine, welcoming the positive conduct of the first round and calling on the leaders of Ukraine to ensure that the next round of voting on 7 February takes place in a similarly peaceful environment.

“The European Union  will continue to support Ukraine in its democratic development and looks forward to the further deepening of EU-Ukraine relations”, the EC statements says.

The results of the first round (data provided by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine):

Viktor Yanukovych: 35,32%

Yulia Tymoshenko: 25,05%

Sergiy Tygypko: 13,05%

Arseniy Yatsenyuk: 6,96%

Viktor Yushchenko: 5,45%

Petro Symonenko: 3,54%

Volodymyr Lytvyn: 2,35%

Oleg Tyagnybok: 1,43%

Anatoliy Grytsenko: 1,20%

other candidates got less than 1% of the votes.

International Election Observation Mission conclusions

Statement by the European Commission on the presidential elections in Ukraine

European Parliament press release on presidential elections in Ukraine