Jagland: New constitution should unite Ukrainians

Ukraine should unite its citizens around the new Constitution and ensure the conduct of fair and democratic presidential elections.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said this after a meeting with acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz on Wednesday.

He believes that it is very important for Ukraine to unite its people in support of the new Constitution, ensure that the president is elected in free, fair and transparent elections, and that the next parliament represent the interests of the whole country, and its members are elected in accordance with the electoral law.

According to him, the Council of Europe is ready to help Ukraine in this way. In particular, this involves the strengthening of the rule of law in the state.

At the same time Jagland stressed the importance of joint efforts of the international community to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression. "It is critical that we prevent any external interference," he said.