Elections en Ukraine : les forces pro-occidentales en tête[en][de] 

Just two weeks ahead of the elections (14 September) at a bilateral summit in Kiev, the EU reiterated its call for Ukraine to stick to democratic standards and swiftly form a government following the elections in order to settle its ongoing political crisis. Ukraine's internal political crisis was sparked by the rivalry of the pro-western President Yushchenko and the pro-Russian Prime Minister Yanukovich. The two political leaders have been contenders since the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The EU has offered to sign a new "enhanced agreement", which would include a free-trade area and increased energy co-operation, as well as Ukraine's WTO accession. However, at a recent European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) conference (3 September), Ukraine reiterated its discontent over the current state of relations and had asked to be recognised as a potential candidate for EU membership (see EurActiv 04/09/07).

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."

Socialist MEP Adrian Severin of the European Parliament delegation, which travelled to Ukraine, said ahead of a meeting with the Ukrainian President: "The European Parliament looks forward to seeing Ukraine fully integrated into EU structures. How this might be achieved is still to be considered, but the political will has been clearly stated. The way this election takes place will have an impact on EU-Ukraine relations. I hope it is a positive impact."