EU: The European Union has sent a special envoy to Kiev amid growing pressure from Brussels for a review of Sunday's presidential election result, reports Denis Staunton, in Brussels
The Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU presidency, said that Mr Niek Biegman, a retired ambassador, would stress to the Ukrainian authorities the importance of defusing tensions over the election, and "carefully considering" the handling of the latest developments.
"We think the results should be reviewed seriously and objectively, and we call on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate, in full co-operation with OSCE/ODIHR, irregularities which may have occurred," Mr Bot said.
The European Commission President, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, warned Ukraine that failure to review the election result could have consequences for the country's relationship with the EU.
"There will be consequences in the overall relations between the EU and Ukraine if there is not a serious, objective and balanced review of the electoral process and the electoral results," he said.
The EU has given or promised Ukraine more than €1.5 billion in aid since 1991, but Mr Barroso declined to specify how Brussels might punish Kiev.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee that he had no doubt that the election was fraudulent, particularly in Mr Yanukovich's eastern stronghold.
The situation in Ukraine is set to overshadow today's EU-Russia summit in The Hague, but Mr Barroso said yesterday that the EU had an obligation to make its concerns known to the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin.
"We are involved in a frank and serious discussion with Russia and we will make our view clear. It is our duty to say we are not satisfied with the way the election took place in Ukraine," Mr Barroso said.
The chairman of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Mr Elmar Brok, said there was evidence of serious electoral fraud on the part of Ukraine's state apparatus.