The invitation was withdrawn by Ukraine's parliament speaker / Photo from Council of Europe/ Candice Imbert
Prior to this decision, the PACE delegation met with the leaders and representatives of a number of the parties running in the elections.
A pre-electoral delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Ukraine has ended its work early of schedule after Ukraine withdrew an invitation to the PACE election observation mission for the early parliamentary elections.
The pre-election delegation was in Kyiv on July 2 and July 3, 2019, to assess the pre-electoral climate ahead of the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, scheduled for July 21, the PACE said on its website.
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Members of the delegation included Mart van de Ven (Netherlands, ALDE), acting Head of the Delegation; Aleksander Pociej (Poland, EPP/CD); Marco Nicolini (San Marino, UEL); and Nagif Hamzayev (Azerbaijan, FDG).
"In a letter dated 2 July 2019, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy informed PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier that the Verkhovna Rada had withdrawn its invitation to observe the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine on July 21, 2019. As a consequence of this decision, the pre-electoral delegation has decided to cease its activity prematurely," the PACE said.
Prior to this decision, the PACE delegation met with the leaders and representatives of a number of the parties running in the elections, representatives of civil society and the media, the OSCE/ODIHR election observation team, and diplomats based in Kyiv.
Other meetings were cancelled.