Europees Parlement wil grote observatiemissie voor de nieuwe verkiezingen in Oekraïne (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has welcomed a decision to re-run Ukraine's Presidential elections, as calls are made to dispatch a massive electoral observation mission.

The EU's political parties and leaders have warmly welcomed the Ukrainian Supreme Courts' call for elections to be re-run following indications of wide spread fraud the first time around.

The Court ruled on Friday that the election committee re-run of the second round, with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko once again facing Viktor Yanukovych.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Commissioner in charge of policy with the EU's neighbours welcomed the Court's decision and urged parties not to prolong the current political crisis.

Since the first round of elections on 21 November hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have taken to the streets calling for Viktor Yushchenko to be declared the winner.

The European Parliament's Liberal group said that the decision of the Supreme Court had opened "a path of opportunity and prosperity for the Ukrainian people".

All attention is now being turned to the 26 December vote - and ensuring that it is free and fair.

The European Parliament's socialist bloc has called for observers to ensure that the re-run takes place in different circumstances.

"It is now extremely important that a massive observer operation is prepared as quickly as possible. We must make every effort to ensure that the democratic will of the people of Ukraine prevails" said vice president Jan Marinus Wiersma.

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Elmar Brok said that the EU could send between 500 and 800 observers.

During the contested elections, less than ten EU observers were sent under an OSCE-led operation.