WASHINGTON, DC—The National Democratic Institute (NDI) will field a pre-election assessment mission for the May 25 presidential election in Ukraine.

The mission, which will be in Ukraine April 7-11, seeks to demonstrate the interest of the international community in the development of the country’s democratic political process and offer an impartial assessment of the political environment.

Members of the delegation are Lloyd Axworthy, president and vice-chancellor of The University of Winnipeg and former Canadian minister of foreign affairs; Edward “Ted” Kaufman, former U.S. senator from Delaware; Tom Andrews, former U.S. representative from Maine and president and CEO of United to End Genocide; Matyas Eorsi, former member of parliament from Hungary and former member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Nadia Diuk, vice president of programs for Europe, Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the National Endowment for Democracy; Andrew Bruce, executive director of Electoral Reform International Services; Laura Jewett, NDI regional director for Eurasia; and Catherine Cecil, resident director for NDI in Ukraine.

The delegation will assess the state of preparations for the elections, including the legal and political environment, through a series of meetings with election officials, presidential candidates, political party leaders, and representatives of civil society, the media, the international community and government.

Following completion of the assessment, the delegation will present its findings at a press conference on Friday, April 11.

The delegation will conduct its activities in a nonpartisan manner in accordance with applicable law and international standards for election monitoring set forth in the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.

The mission is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.