Europe is already preparing for post-war elections in Ukraine — Council of Europe Secretary General

European partners are already preparing for the upcoming post-war elections in Ukraine. The vote should take place when the country has the conditions for holding free and fair elections. At the same time, the electoral process will be just one of the large-scale challenges that the state will face after the end of the war.

This was stated by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, in an interview with Rapporteur.

When elections can be held in Ukraine

Berset stressed that European partners are already working on issues related to the first post-war elections in Ukraine.

At the same time, he did not name a specific date for the vote. According to him, the elections should be held when it becomes possible to hold free and fair elections.

A separate task for Ukraine and Europe will be to restore public trust in democratic institutions after the end of the war.

Veterans, displaced persons and families: what challenges do they see in the Council of Europe

According to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, holding elections will not be the only issue that Ukraine will have to address.

One of the key challenges will be the return of veterans to civilian life and their reintegration into society.

“A big problem will be veterans. That is, their reintegration into society, assistance to families torn apart by the war, people displaced both within the country and abroad, children who have lost years of education, as well as the consequences for mental health,” said Berset.

After the war, the state will also have to deal with the consequences of mass displacement of citizens, the problems of families separated by the war, educational losses of children and the psychological consequences of hostilities.

A separate issue is trust in state institutions

Berset called another important area the trust of citizens in institutions.

He recalled that the Council of Europe has been cooperating with Ukraine in the field of reforms and combating corruption for over ten years.

These processes will remain important in the context of the post-war reconstruction of the state and further European integration of Ukraine.

Legislation on post-war elections is already being prepared

Previously, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Korniyenko, reported that the draft law on the specifics of holding elections under martial law has a high degree of technical readiness.

At the same time, the document has not yet been registered in the Verkhovna Rada due to a number of unresolved political issues.

Thus, preparations for the upcoming electoral process are ongoing, but neither the date of the post-war elections nor the final rules for such voting have yet been determined.