ASSOCIATED PRESS By Douglas Birch 19 January 2010 KIEV, Ukraine - Opposition leader Viktor Yanukoyvch, the chief target of the 2004 Orange Revolution, took a big lead in the first round of Ukraine's presidential election over his rival, Orange heroine and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, officials said Monday. But that advantage after Sunday's vote could prove illusory when the two go head-to-head in the final round of voting Feb. 7. Many

KYIV, 18 January 2010 – The first round of Ukraine’s presidential election was of high quality and showed significant progress over previous elections, meeting most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, concluded the international election observation mission in a statement published today. The observers noted that the election demonstrated respect for civil and political rights, and offered voters a genuine choice between candidates

NATIONAL POST 18 January 2010 Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was second with just under 25%, will face off against Mr. Yanukovych in a Feb. 7 run-off vote. "This was a good and competitive election and very promising for the future of Ukraine's democracy," said Joao Soares, head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's observer mission, in a statement. "I look forward to the continuation of this positive experience in

24.UA 18 January 2010 Сегодня, 18 января, ОБСЕ дала свою оценку президентским выборам в Украине, первый тур которых прошел накануне. "Эти выборы были очень хорошими. Это были высококачественные выборы", - заявил президент Парламентской ассамблеи ОБСЕ, специальный координатор миссии краткосрочных наблюдателей ОБСЕ Жоао Суареш на пресс-конференции в Киеве. По его словам, нынешний избирательный процесс является "шагом вперед по сравнению с

OSCE PA President Joao Soares delivers the post-election statement on behalf of the OSCE in Kyiv. KYIV, 18 January 2010 – The first round of Ukraine’s presidential election was of high quality and showed significant progress over previous elections, meeting most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, concluded the international election observation mission in a statement published today. The observers noted that the election demonstrated

KYIV POST 18 January 2010 OSCE observers have said that the election laws of Ukraine must be improved and brought in line with the international norms and standards, Heidi Tagliavini, the head of the election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has said. "We would like to note that although some laws were adopted [in Ukraine's election legislation] nevertheless we insist that the legislative