Press release - 29-03-2006 -For immediate release- AEGEE Election Observation Mission to Ukraine For the Parliamentary elections in the Ukraine, held on March 26th 2006, 35 international observers from AEGEE (European Students' Forum) took part in a mission for monitoring the elections in cooperation with the DiDEE foundation, in order to contribute to free and fair elections. The observers were accredited by the Ukrainian Central Election Commission. AEGEE observers rated the conduct at polling stations as being between 'good' and 'very good' in the majority of cases. No substantial, systematic misuse or fraud was observed. However there were still serious issues regarding voter lists, over-crowded polling stations, improperly sealed ballot boxes, and a large amount of posters of candidates where the information was improperly displayed , or was incomplete. AEGEE believes that major steps have been taken in the Ukraine to consolidate democracy, and that in Odessa these elections have greatly fallen within the purview of fulfilling OSCE guidelines, and have generally conformed to national legislation. AEGEE's Election Observation Missions project (EOM) functions within the framework of AEGEE's Flagship Project of 2006: "Take Control - Ways to Democracy in Europe". The project will contain a series of training events, conferences, campaigns to promote citizens' initiative, educational and media activities all intended to increase the involvement and engagement of young people in the European political process. AEGEE is one of Europe's largest interdisciplinary and voluntary student associations, operating without being linked to any political party, promoting a unified Europe, cross-border co-operation, communication and integration in academic environment, and at the same time striving to create an open and tolerant society by involving students and young graduates in valuable projects and discussions over the topics of importance for the communities they live in. It is represented in 260 university cities, in 42 countries all around Europe and has about 15000 members Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at: *********************************************** AEGEE's mailing lists are powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R), www.lsoft.com