In a few days, Ukraine will get to vote to choose their president for the next 5 years. After the recent happenings in Ukraine, from the protests at Maidan square till the recent independence referendums in Crimea and Sevastopol, on the 25th of May Ukrainians will have to choose from 21 candidates who will lead the Country, and where to: closer to Europe or closer to Russia.
Because of its geopolitical importance, the elections will be followed closely from all over the world. Several international organisations and many Countries will send Observation Missions to verify the regular execution of the elections and to make sure that no external influence will undermine the democratic process. Among them, AEGEE has received a spot too.
In fact, thanks to the strong cooperation between AEGEE and OSCE, 21 members of AEGEE will be in Ukraine as a part of the Election Observation Mission ran by the ODHIR, in cooperation with their Long Term Observers. With the support of AEGEE locals, the AEGEE members will be in Kyiv, L’viv and Kharkiv with the task to verify the respect of fundamental freedoms, such as equality, universality, political pluralism, confidence, transparency and accountability.
How does it work? Each member will have a check-list. They will impartially monitor the happenings all day long and report irregularities to the election officials, but they won’t be allowed to give any suggestions nor instructions. In order to manage this, the team had an online training provided by the OSCE, and a sample test during Agora Patra 2014.
After several years, AEGEE’s participation to Election Observation Missions is extremely important: we, as European citizens, care about what is going on in Europe today. And we know how difficult it can be for somebody to have access to his/her rights. Therefore, being there will mean that we can substantially help with our little contribution to fair and democratic elections. The rest will be up to Ukrainians citizens.
Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno
Featured Image: ©BELGAIMAGE/AFP/G.Savilov