EU condemns elections in Russia and illegally occupied Ukrainian territories

Brussels – Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, reported today (April 10) before the European Parliament on the elections held in Russia and Ukrainian territories last March 15-17. Borrell stressed the undemocratic nature of the election process by condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Political opponents were either killed or forced to keep quiet,” with these few words, Borrell summed up the elections in Russia. The failure of the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) to monitor the election process for the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy clearly signals that the Kremlin did not want the elections to be held in a democratic scenario.

Even more serious was the situation in the Ukrainian territories forcibly controlled by the Russians, where citizens were forced to vote at gunpoint. “The elections have not changed anything, so our positions on Russia have not changed either,” Borrell summed up the situation, calling on the union to prepare a new package of sanctions.

The parties within the Euro Parliament also spoke out compactly against what Socialists and Democrats (S&D) MEP Eero Heinäluoma called “neither free nor fair election but a huge farce.” Rasa Juknevičienė, Lithuanian MEP of the European People’s Party (EPP), added, “Putin is afraid of the election because he is afraid of his people’s vote.” Also harsh was the comment of Bernard Guetta, a member of Renew: “Putin is not an elected president. In the vote, he competed against opponents he had chosen.” For the Greens/Ale group, Sergey Lagodinsky spoke, according to whom “the farce of the elections was seen in full force in Ukraine.”

The European Parliament is therefore united in condemning the illegitimacy of the voting that took place in Russia and the illegally occupied Ukrainian territories. It is, therefore, up to the EU to support the voices of dissent against Putin and the war in Ukraine that could not emerge in the vote. Borrell, in closing his speech, reminded that the elections in Europe are real and that the Kremlin’s attempts to sabotage them through disinformation are doomed to failure.