EU ready to work with new Ukraine president

(BRUSSELS) - Europe is ready to work with Ukraine's new pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday, praising the "calm atmosphere" of the vote.

"The European Union remains committed to deepening the relationship with Ukraine and supporting it in implementing its reform agenda. It looks forward to working with the new president to this end," Ashton said in a statement.

In Sunday's run-off election, Ukraine's voters narrowly chose Yanukovich as president, rejecting the West-leaning policies of the Orange Revolution.

But with his margin of victory of just around 2.5 percent according to a count of almost all the votes, his challenger Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was showing no sign of conceding a poll that was much closer than forecast.

In her comment Ashton did not name the winning candidate but welcomed the "positive assessment" of the election process by the International Election Observation Mission.

"The generally calm atmosphere in which the elections were conducted, the open campaign in the media and the fact that the electorate were provided with a genuine choice represent important achievements in Ukraine's democratic development," she underlined.

Ashton also welcomed the relatively high turnout of 69 percent on Sunday, saying it showed "strong commitment demonstrated to the democratic process."

Meanwhile a delegation of eight members of the European parliament confirmed that both rounds of presidential election met "most of the country's international commitments."

"Free elections were once again held in a country which overcame communism, got through the period of the Second World War and Soviet domination. It is worth bringing these facts to the attention of the international community which is watching Kiev today," said Polish MEP Pawel Kowal, who led the EU delegation.

Parliamentary colleague Alojz Peterle echoed that "despite strong polarisation and electoral law changes between the first and the second round of elections, the elections were conducted peacefully and no major tension was felt in the voting stations."

The defeated Tymoshenko last month pledged to bring Ukraine into the EU within five years if she won the presidential poll.

The Orange Revolution swept the uncompromisingly pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko to power and created hopes of a new beginning in the strategic state of 46 million people wedged between Russia and the European Union.

But the dreams crumbled amid political infighting and a dire economic crisis and the new president appears set to take Ukraine on a path to better ties with Russia.

Ukraine is split between a Russian-speaking east, which is Yanukovich's stronghold, and the more nationalist Ukrainian-speaking west that backed Tymoshenko.