Brussels, 05/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 4 December, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) denounced irregularities during legislative elections in Russia, and called on the EU to take action. Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the group, said: “It is time for the European Union to come clean and take the side of the Russian citizens. Russia is not a democracy. In this light, the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit (Ed. 15 December) can only be credible and useful if it has democracy and the rule of law as the main item on the agenda”. He called for a debate on Russia with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, during the plenary session in Strasbourg from 12 to 15 December.
Germany, on the other hand, stated great concern about the commission of electoral observers' report which picks up on many signs of irregularities and constraints, the deputy spokesman for the German government, Georg Streiter, explained on 5 December. He added that the government supports the principle that light should be shed all questions raised. During the elections of 4 November, Vladimir Putin's party, United Russia, won an absolute victory at the Duma with 238 seats out of 450. (CG/transl.jl)