The European Commission on Friday condemned what it called the “systematic and institutionalised repression” and “the exclusion of all democratic opposition” as Russians began voting in parliamentary elections.
In a statement issued on the first day of the three-day poll, a Commission spokesperson said the way the State Duma elections were being conducted highlighted the continued and deepening erosion of democracy in Russia.
The spokesperson pointed in particular to the exclusion of the social liberal Yabloko party, the only registered party in Russia to openly oppose the war in Ukraine.
“The Kremlin is depriving voters of a genuine choice about the future of the country,” the spokesperson said.
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The Commission also strongly condemned what it described as the “illegal” organisation of the elections in the “temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”.
“These so-called elections are yet another flagrant violation of international law,” the spokesperson said.
Russians are voting from Friday to Sunday to elect a new parliament for the first time since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
There is little doubt that United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin, will nominally win the vote.
