VIENNA, May 15 /ITAR-TASS/. Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter has welcomed the successful launch of a nationwide dialogue in Ukraine, the OSCE press service said on Wednesday.

He expressed the hope that an inclusive national dialogue would help stabilize the political situation in Ukraine ahead of upcoming presidential elections on 25 May. “The launch event, chaired by two former Presidents of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma, allowed for constructive and engaged discussions and set the tone for the following editions to take place in the regions,” Burkhalter said.

According to Burkhalter, the OSCE is ready to assist the Ukrainian authorities with its expertise and organizational support through joint efforts by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator’s Office in Ukraine.

The first roundtable meeting on national unity took place at Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine’s eastern regions, the constitutional reform, decentralization of power, anti-corruption measures, economic and humanitarian policies.

It was attended by Ukraine’s former presidents, Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma, parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, members of the Ukrainian government, lawmakers, presidential candidates, regional administration chiefs, speakers of regional legislatures, businessmen, representatives of public and international organizations.

The roundtable meeting was organized on recommendation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It was attended by the German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger whom the OSCE appointed its chief negotiator on establishing dialogue in Ukraine on May 12.

Some time ago, the OSCE proposed a “roadmap” based on four basic blocs (denunciation of violence, disarmament, national dialogue and the May 25 presidential elections).