EU condemns Russia's 18-20 September State Duma elections and rejects vote in occupied Ukraine

The State Duma elections held by Russia on 18, 20 September underscored the continued and deepening erosion of democracy in Russia, taking place in an increasingly authoritarian political environment. The absence of any level playing field was further exacerbated by Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and ongoing illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories.

Sponsored

Russian authorities have continued to increase the systematic and institutionalised internal and transnational repression to exclude any democratic opposition forces from contesting the status quo. The decision to exclude candidates from the Yabloko party from running on the federal list further limited the choice for Russian voters, debarring from the electoral process one of the last remaining opposition forces and the only party with an anti-war platform.

In the period preceding the elections, independent analysts and observers already reported extensive misuse of administrative and judicial resources to eliminate all those opposed to Russia's illegal war of aggression, to deprive Russian voters of a genuine choice about the future of their country and to severely restrict access of Russians to independent information. The European Union and its Member States will continue to support the important work of Russian civil society organisations, human rights defenders and independent media.

The European Union regrets the decision of the Russian Federation not to invite OSCE observers to these elections. It further demonstrates the Russian Federation's pattern of disregard for binding commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating States and has denied Russian voters and institutions an impartial and independent assessment of these elections.

Sponsored

Furthermore, the European Union unequivocally condemns the illegal organisation of so-called "elections" by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, namely the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, as well as in parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. These so-called "elections" represent yet another blatant violation by Russia of international law, including the UN Charter, and of Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

#StateDuma #Yabloko #OSCE #Sevastopol #Crimea