KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine's three post-Soviet former presidents voiced support on Wednesday for mass protests raging in the capital Kiev against the government's decision to reject a historic pact with the European Union.

"We express solidarity with the peaceful civic actions of hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians," said a statement from Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko, and posted on Yushchenko's party website.