Pro-Western forces claim victory in Ukraine elections[de] 

The "orange" opposition party "Block of Yulia Tymoshenko" took a narrow lead in the initial results of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections, with 33.3% against 30.6% of votes for the "blue" "Party of the Regions" led by Prime Minister Yanukovich. The "Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defence" party of President Yushchenko gained 15.6% of votes.

"This is without a doubt a victory," Tymoshenko said on 1 October.

Exit polls had put Yanukovich ahead of Tymoshenko on Sunday evening. But initial results, with more than half of votes counted on Monday morning, indicated a swing. 

Tymoshenko already announced that she would seek a coalition with President Yushchenko's Self-Defence party. However, the two pro-Western parties may need a third coalition partner to secure their majority. Possible candidates are the block of former Parliament President Volodymyr Lytvyn, who got 4.2% of votes, or the Socialist Party, which received 3.2% of ballots. Cooperation with the Communist Party, which took 5.1% of votes, is largely ruled out.

"We will wait for the vote count to be completed and then we will form a democratic coalition," Tymoshenko said. "We can and will form a majority."

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said: "I want to pay tribute to the sense of responsibility and strong commitment to democracy shown by the Ukrainian population who massively took part in this important election. The parliamentary elections were conducted in an overall transparent and fair way, as assessed by international observers."

"This development should pave the way for the establishment of a new Government that could resume the reform process very soon and meet the high expectations of the Ukrainian people."

EU High Represenative for the CFSP, Javier Solana, stated: "I am pleased with the preliminary assessment of the OSCE-led International Observation Mission, according to which the elections were conducted mostly in line with international commitments and standards for democratic elections. Now that the Ukrainian people have expressed their will, I call on the political leaders of Ukraine to move on swiftly with putting in place a new, stable government and continuing necessary domestic reforms."

He added: "The EU remains committed to supporting Ukraine's reform efforts and to further deepening the relationship between the EU and Ukraine, the quality of which depends on the quality of Ukraine's democracy and reforms."

Socialist MEP Adrian Severin of the European Parliament delegation, which travelled to Ukraine, said: "We have observed that during the electoral campaign all main political parties in Ukraine expressed the desire to see their country fully integrate into the EU, to positively contribute to Europe's relations with Russia, as well as to carry out a comprehensive constitutional reform at home. In order to accomplish these goals, it is essential for all Ukrainian political forces to respect the free will expressed by the Ukrainian people, to form a stable government respecting the pre-electoral consensus for power-sharing between coalition and opposition, and thereby start realising an ambitious national reform agenda."