17:51 09.09.2013

CVU: Referendum on Ukraine's accession to Customs Union to depend on political will of authorities

2 min read

The September 8 initiative to hold an all-Ukrainian referendum on Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union will not have far-reaching consequences, Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) Oleksandr Chernenko has said.

"I think that this initiative by the communists and [Viktor] Medvedchuk, in principle, will have no far-reaching consequences for Ukraine," Chernenko said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

He noted that in accordance with the law, it is necessary to fulfill three conditions to hold a nationwide referendum. In particular, a meeting of citizens has to be attended by a member of the Central Election Commission, but a CEC member attended the meeting at the Spartak Stadium on September 8 only as a private person.

"This means that the first condition was fulfilled in violation of the law," Chernenko said.

It is also necessary to collect three million signatures of Ukrainian citizens in support of the referendum.

"If these are fair signatures, the process will be long, and it is unknown whether the communists have the resources to organize that," he said.

In addition, a presidential decree is needed to announce the referendum, he said.

"I think that the fulfillment of these three conditions is currently unrealistic, because if the authorities have the political will to hold this referendum, it will be held. If the authorities do not promote a referendum, then there are many ways not to realize this initiative," Chernenko said.

He said the Ukrainian authorities "will always have a reference for Europe - that if the Association Agreement is not signed, then Ukraine will join the Customs Union."

At the same time, he did not rule out that if the Association Agreement between Ukraine and EU is not signed, the authorities will realize this initiative and "Ukraine will join the Customs Union with the will of the people."

As reported, 2,508 people attended a meeting of Ukrainian citizens at the Spartak Stadium in Kyiv on September 8, which was organized by the Ukrainian Communist Party and the Ukrainian Choice public movement. The meeting participants approved the personal composition of the initiative group on holding an all-Ukrainian referendum on a popular initiative in the number of 9,892 people, as well as the wording of the question to be put to the referendum: "Do you support Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation?"

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