KIEV, February 13. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC) registered 90 observers from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to monitor the upcoming presidential election in the country at its meeting on Wednesday.
"Having considered the relevant request, the commission registered 90 official observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to monitor the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine," the commission’s press service said. There are no Russian nationals among them.
In all, the CEC registered 226 official observers from international organizations and other countries for the upcoming elections scheduled for March 31, 2019.
On February 7, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) passed the law, under which individuals who are citizens a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada as an aggressor country or an invader country" and also "individuals proposed [as observers] by a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada as an aggressor country or an invader country" cannot monitor the presidential, parliamentary or local elections.
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission earlier rejected the applications submitted by the ODIHR for the accreditation of two long-term observers from Russia within its mission.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday that Moscow had received a notice from the ODIHR asking to dispatch short-term observers to monitor the presidential election in Ukraine and was determined to exercise this right.
