Ukrainians go to the polls today in a closely watched election that will test the commitment to democracy of the European Union’s largest eastern neighbour and potentially affect its geopolitical trajectory, Roman Olearchyk wrote for Financial Times.
Election observers said earlier on Sunday that they had detected voting irregularities and the website of Opora, one of the country’s main election watchdogs, had crashed after an alleged denial-of-service attack. The scale of irregularities was unclear.
Failure to hold a democratic election could worsen Kyiv’s relations with the 27-member union. EU leaders last year put off signing of landmark free trade and association agreements with Ukraine, citing concerns about a rolling back of democracy under the nearly 3-year rule of President Viktor Yanukovych. Brussels and Washington have described this election as a litmus test for Mr Yanukovich’s commitment to democracy.
