CHISINAU, 20 January 2010 -- The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Parliamentary Team on Moldova paid a visit to Chisinau and Tiraspol 18-20 January 2010. The Delegation, which included Canan Kalsin (Turkey), was led by Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden). The Delegation met with the Speaker of Parliament and Acting President of Moldova, Mihai Ghimpu, the Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Iurie Leanca, the newly appointed

MOLDPRES 19 January 2010 "The OSCE backs the new positive measures taken by the Moldovan authorities to peacefully solve the Transnistrian conflict. We back the actions carried out in the interest of citizens both publicly and via the OSCE reports." The statements were made by representatives of the group for Moldova of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, headed by Swedish MP Walburga Habsburg Douglas, at a meeting with Moldovan Parliament Speaker

Коммерсантъ Украина 19 January 2010 Международные наблюдатели положительно оценили ход первого тура выборов президента Крупнейшие миссии иностранных наблюдателей, аккредитованные в Украине, вчера заявили о соответствии первого тура президентских выборов демократическим стандартам. Наблюдатели признали, что на участках регистрировались нарушения — от голосования без документов до попыток подкупа — но все они не были системными и не повлияли на

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