Mr. Chairman,

We wish to inform the Permanent Council that in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine the President of Ukraine decided to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine of the 8^th convocation. The early parliamentary elections will be held on 21 July 2019.

Recognizing the relevance of the OSCE observation for enhancing electoral and democratic processes, demonstrating openness and pursuant to the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document and the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Document, on 28 May 2019, Ukraine extended an official invitation to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to observe the aforementioned elections.

Ukraine is ready to provide all necessary assistance to the work of the OSCE ODIHR election observation mission.

We are confident that the OSCE ODIHR election monitoring mission will act with full respect for the sovereignty and laws of the country holding elections, as enshrined in the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers of 2005, endorsed by the OSCE ODIHR, the UN, the European Commission and many other important international institutions.

In this regard, in the letter of invitation we drew attention of the ODIHR to the Law of Ukraine № 2268-VIII of 8 January 2018 “On the peculiarities of State policy on ensuring Ukraine’s State sovereignty over temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, which recognizes Russia as an aggressor state and an occupying power, as well as to the Law of Ukraine № 4061-VI of 17 November 2011 “On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine”. This Law stipulates, in particular, that a person who is a citizen of the State recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as aggressor state or occupying state, as well as a person, whose nomination was initiated or submitted by the State recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as aggressor state or occupying state, cannot act as official observer.

It is also essential that in the organization and conduct of observation activities and in preparation of reports the ODIHR adheres to the provisions of the UN General Assembly resolutions “Territorial integrity of Ukraine“ of 2014, “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine” of 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The Government of Ukraine is committed to make every effort to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in accordance with the national legislation and internationally recognized standards for democratic elections while facing the ongoing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and temporary illegal occupation of parts of Ukraine’s territory by the Russian Federation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.