MOSCOW – European nations and the U.S. government reacted swiftly and angrily to Wednesday night’s announcement that the government-backed candidate had been declared the official winner of Ukraine’s widely condemned presidential election.

“It is time for Ukrainian leaders to decide whether they are on the side of democracy or not,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell, who called for a swift investigation into the disputed Sunday voting. “If the Ukrainian government does not act immediately and responsibly, there will be consequences for our relationship.”

The Ukrainian government’s Central Election Commission announced that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had won the presidency with 49.5 percent of the vote. It said his pro-Western challenger, Viktor Yushchenko, finished with 46.6 percent.

“We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse,” Powell said.

Yushchenko immediately called for a nationwide general strike to include “stopping lessons at schools and universities, stopping work at enterprises, stopping transport.” He also said he would accept a re-vote only if the election commission were replaced.

Ukrainian authorities seemed disinclined to consider a new election or any investigation. Yanukovych, clearly savoring his victory, said he was simply going about his business as prime minister and president-elect.

“Nothing extraordinary is taking place here,” he said as tens of thousands continued to protest the election outside his offices in Kiev, the capital. “Nothing is happening.”

When the election commission’s 11-4 vote was announced Wednesday night, disappointment coursed through the thousands of Yushchenko partisans crowding Kiev’s Independence Square. At first they chanted “Shame! Shame!” Late into the night, despite bitter cold and blowing snow, they sang and waved orange banners and flags.

Powell said he spoke to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma on Wednesday morning and warned the Soviet-style strongman not to use force against the protesters in Kiev and other cities in western Ukraine. Government riot police remained on alert in the capital, but there were no reports of violence.

Exit surveys conducted by Ukrainian pollsters and academics on Sunday night had pointed to a lopsided victory for Yushchenko. By Monday morning, however, the election commission announced that Yanukovych was leading.

A U.S. observer team led by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said Ukrainian authorities had systematically rigged Sunday’s election, a conclusion that was echoed by official monitoring teams from Western Europe.

Said Jose Manuel Barosso, the president of the European Commission: “We regret the Ukrainian authorities have not taken a commitment to democracy. This could affect our relations in the future.”

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British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the elections “clearly flawed” and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder termed them “unacceptable.” The NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said in Brussels that a review of the election was “absolutely necessary” and called it “the key to NATO-Ukraine relations.”

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Yushchenko said he has proof of irregularities amounting to a reported 3 million votes. He alleged that Yanukovych backers used absentee ballots to vote over and over again.

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Two observers from the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which helps to monitor human rights and resolve conflicts in Europe, told Knight Ridder they had witnessed two cases of fraud during voting in Ivano-Frankivsk: A pro-Yushchenko election official was temporarily barred from a vote-counting room in one district, and the vote tallies in another heavily pro-Yushchenko area were misreported in favor of Yanukovych.

Powell said he had spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, pressing for an inquiry into the many charges of electoral fraud.

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During the campaign, Moscow openly backed Yanukovych, whose central theme was forging a closer economic relationship to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stumped for Yanukovych during two pre-election visits to Ukraine. The Kremlin also supplied him with senior Kremlin political strategists, including Sergei Markov, a key architect of Putin’s “managed democracy.”

The election dispute has all the hallmarks of a big-power proxy fight, but Powell downplayed that dimension.

“We’re not looking for a contest with Russia over this,” he said. “We’re looking for a way to make sure that the will of the Ukrainian people is respected.”

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(c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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GRAPHIC (from KRT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20041124 Kiev map.fh9

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