EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton has congratulated Ukraine on holding free and fair elections, in remarks that will make it harder for the losing side to contest the result. "The generally calm atmosphere in which the elections were conducted, the open campaign in the media and the fact that the electorate were provided with a genuine choice represent important achievements in Ukraine's democratic development," Ms Ashton said on Monday (8 February). Her statement came at a sensitive time, as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost Sunday's poll by a narrow margin of around 3 percent, pondered her next move.
"The generally calm atmosphere in which the elections were conducted, the open campaign in the media and the fact that the electorate were provided with a genuine choice represent important achievements in Ukraine's democratic development," Ms Ashton said on Monday (8 February).
Her statement came at a sensitive time, as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost Sunday's poll by a narrow margin of around 3 percent, pondered her next move.
The battle for the presidency of Ukraine continued to hang in the balance today as Viktor Yanukovych edged closer to victory and his bitter rival Yuliya Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat. Mr Yanukovych's lead over Ms Tymoshenko shrank to 2.4 percentage points this morning with 96 per cent of votes counted. Support for him was 48.39 per cent compared to 46 per cent for Ms Tymoshenko. An official at the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Kiev predicted that Mr Yanukovych would remain the winner because the votes still to be counted came from his strongholds in the south and east. Analysts said that the narrowness of the victory would encourage Ms Tymoshenko to challenge the result. In a sign of the tensions, Ms Tymoshenko postponed a press conference at which she was expected to set out her next steps while thousands of Mr Yanukovych's supporters demonstrated near the election commission headquarters in support of their candidate.
The battle for the presidency of Ukraine continued to hang in the balance today as Viktor Yanukovych edged closer to victory and his bitter rival Yuliya Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat.
Mr Yanukovych's lead over Ms Tymoshenko shrank to 2.4 percentage points this morning with 96 per cent of votes counted. Support for him was 48.39 per cent compared to 46 per cent for Ms Tymoshenko.
An official at the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Kiev predicted that Mr Yanukovych would remain the winner because the votes still to be counted came from his strongholds in the south and east. Analysts said that the narrowness of the victory would encourage Ms Tymoshenko to challenge the result.
In a sign of the tensions, Ms Tymoshenko postponed a press conference at which she was expected to set out her next steps while thousands of Mr Yanukovych's supporters demonstrated near the election commission headquarters in support of their candidate.
