ANKARA
The Council of Europe has welcomed Ukraine's parliamentary elections, which took place Sunday.
Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement late Sunday that the election was "a clear expression of the Ukrainian people’s desire for peace, democracy and unity of the country."
Pro-government parties received more than 50 percent of the vote, according to early results.
President Petro Poroshenko's bloc is seen as the favorite in the elections and is expected to make a coalition with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's party.
"I welcome the steadfast commitment of President Poroshenko and Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to democratic reforms which was endorsed by a majority of the electorate," Jagland said.
Overseas Ukrainians also voted in 112 polling stations.
More than 32 million Ukrainians exercised their right to choose 6,627 candidates and 29 parties for the 450-member parliament known as the "Verkhovna Rada" in Ukraine.
Crimea and most parts of eastern region of Donbas, which are still not under the full control of Ukrainian authorities, did not participate in the elections.
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