The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation conducted by Russia. The document states that the so-called "elections" failed to meet the fundamental conditions for a free and fair expression of the will of the people. This was reported by Member of Parliament and member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE Yevheniia Kravchuk on social media on September 30, UNN reports.
Details
"PACE adopted a resolution on the fake "elections" in Russia and its destabilizing attacks on Europe. The vote was 59 in favor and none against. The Assembly clearly states: the so-called "elections" to the State Duma on September 18–20 did not meet the fundamental conditions for free and fair elections and cannot be considered a genuine expression of the will of Russian citizens. Accordingly, the new State Duma cannot be recognized as democratically elected or as a legitimate representative body," Kravchuk wrote.
According to Kravchuk, the resolution's key calls include:
- rejecting the fake “elections” to the State Duma of the Russian Federation and recognizing no legal or political consequences of Russia's unlawful holding of the so-called «elections» in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine;
- refraining from engagement with the new State Duma of the Russian Federation;
- continuing the political and diplomatic isolation of the Russian authorities and preventing the normalization of Russia's participation in international formats;
- imposing sanctions against the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, its leadership and members, regional election commissions, as well as individuals who organized or administered these so-called «elections», ran in them, or acted as «observers» in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
"Ukraine is already taking action in this direction: on September 26, the President enacted sanctions against 44 individuals involved in the illegal "elections" to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. We call on our partners to introduce similar restrictions: impose Schengen-wide movement restrictions on accredited Russian diplomats and officials and limit the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens; strengthen political, financial, and practical support for Ukraine, use frozen Russian sovereign assets for Ukraine's defense and reconstruction, and continue working to hold Russia accountable for its crimes," Yevheniia Kravchuk noted.
We would like to remind you
Russia's Central Election Commission did not publish the voting results in 21 regions and the occupied territories of Ukraine even a week later. The Center for Countering Disinformation called the elections fictitious.