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Europe condemns atmosphere of fear surrounding Russian elections

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Asked about this week’s Duma and regional elections in the Russian federation, Peter Stano, the EU’s External Action Service spokesman said that the elections had taken place in an atmosphere of fear. The EU has noted that independent and reliable sources have reported serious violations of electoral law.

Stano said that elections, wherever they are taking place in the world, should be run in a free and fair way. He said the elections had taken place without any credible international observation and that the EU regretted Russia’s decision to severely reduce and restrict the size and format of the OSCE - Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights mission thereby preventing its deployment.  

Stano said the crackdown on opposition politicians, civil society organizations, civil society activists, human rights activists, independent media outlets and against journalists ahead of the election was aimed at silencing critical opposition and removing competition. 

The European Commission calls on the Russian Federation to abide by its commitments taken within the UN and Council of Europe framework in terms of protection of human rights and democratic values, which includes also organizing free and fair elections. 

Ukraine

The spokesperson added that the European Commission will never recognize the elections in illegally annexed Crimea and also expressed concern that citizens of Ukraine in the Ukrainian territories which are currently occupied were given passports and allowed to vote. Stanton said that this ran counter to the spirit of the Minsk agreements.

When asked if the EU will recognize the election results, Stano said that this was a national competence and up to individual member states, but added that it might be something that EU foreign affairs ministers discuss when they meet this evening in New York, where they are meeting for the UN General Assembly. EU High Representative Josep Borrell will be meeting again with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, at one of many bilateral meetings planned for this week.

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