On 16 December, 2020, Mr. Pierre Peytier, Deputy Head of the ENEMO Mission to Ukraine for the Local Elections 2020 conducted a meeting with Ms. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Ukrainian politician, Chairwoman of the Committee for the European Integration of Ukraine, former Vice-Prime-Minister for the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. 

Mr. Pierre Peytier presented some of ENEMO’s key findings and recommendations for improving  the election process, while Ms. Klympush-Tsintsadze shared her insights and ideas on local elections held in Zakarpattia oblast’. The main challenges discussed were: imperfect rules and regulations on the gender quota, systemic vote buying, complexity of the new electoral system, widespread challenges of lower level of the election commission members, and misunderstandings of the voters which led to a significant amount of invalid ballots following the voting process.

In the context of the European integration of Ukraine Ms. Klympush-Tsintsadze highlighted that one of the key aspects is sustaining trust between the EU and Ukraine, while close cooperation between the government, NGOs and international organisations is essential.

Additionally, Ms. Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasised that the main takeaways and the lessons learned during these elections should be presented and discussed at the Parliamentary level.