EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ukraine presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko is still planning to contest the country's recent election result, despite EU and US pressure to step aside.The EU's top two officials, Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday (11 February) congratulated Ms Tymoshenko's rival, Viktor Yanukovych, on winning the vote.
Ms Tymoshenko (l) white a white tiger cub, her symbol in the election campaign (Photo: tymoshenko.ua)
Ms Tymoshenko (l) white a white tiger cub, her symbol in the election campaign (Photo: tymoshenko.ua)
Mr Van Rompuy said the elections were "conducted in accordance with international standards" and invited Mr Yanukovych to visit Brussels.
With Ukraine standing on the edge of sovereign debt default and seven weeks away from being unable to pay for Russian gas supplies, Mr Barroso urged its new leader to take "decisive action" on reform.
"The European Union will stand by Ukraine in these endeavours. We will continue to provide you with political, economic, financial and technical support," he said.
President Barack Obama the same evening telephoned Mr Yanukovych, also stressing the probity of the vote. "This peaceful expression of the political will of Ukrainian voters is another positive step in strengthening democracy in Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.
The messages of support come despite the fact that Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) has not yet given its final verdict on last Sunday's poll.
The CEC on Wednesday gave a preliminary result saying Mr Yanukovych won by 3.5 percent. But its official decision will not be ready until it has received all the original paper copies of the protocols from polling stations, a development expected on 17 February.
Natalia Lysova, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Tymoshenko's cabinet, told EUobserver on Thursday that her side is still planning to challenge the vote on the basis of suspected fraud in the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk districts, despite the international pressure.
"It would have been better for them to wait for the final result. But it's their right [to congratulate Mr Yanukovych]," she said.
Ms Tymoshenko herself is preparing to speak out on the vote when the CEC makes its final call, Ms Lysova added. The prime minister on Thursday appeared before cameras for the first time since Sunday, saying Mr Yanukovych told lies in his election campaign.
An EU official said Messrs Van Rompuy and Barroso issued the statements before the CEC pronouncement because "they don't think she [Ms Tymoshenko] will win." Asked if EU leaders would like to see her stand down, the contact said: "Yes."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian voters are watching the whole process with a wry sense of humour.
One joke doing the rounds in Kiev is: "There's good news and bad news about the election. The good news is that Tymoshenko did not become president. The bad news is that Yanukovych did."
Another quip revolves around Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, believed to hold the real power in the region: "Why hasn't Tymoshenko resigned yet? The CEC has given a result. Even [Russian President] Medvedev has congratulated Yanukovych ...Because she is waiting for congratulations from Putin."
