The spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced in the evening of Monday 19 September that the EU did not recognise elections for the Duma held in Crimea
“The European Union has not recognised the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and therefore does not recognise the holding of elections in the Crimean peninsula”, said the spokesperson in a press release published after the elections for the Duma on 18 September. A European source has told EUROPE that the four deputies elected from Crimea and Sevastopol would not be recognised as representatives of these territories and would be treated “in accordance with the policy of non-recognition”.
The EEAS spokesperson said that the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission had not conducted any activities in the illegally-annexed territories and that participation of EU member states’ diplomats in observation activities within the framework of the OSCE/ODIHR monitoring mission was also limited to the recognised territory of the Russian Federation. In addition to the four deputies directly elected from the annexed territories, 225 of the total of 450 deputies are elected under a proportional representation system which takes account of the vote in Crimea and Sevastopol.
The EEAS spokesperson also said she expected the Russian authorities to “do their utmost to address these concerns” expressed in the preliminary conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. She said that these preliminary conclusions indicated that the elections were transparently administered by the Central Election Commission, but that “challenges to democratic commitments remain”. The OSCE/ODIHR noted that “the electoral environment was negatively affected by restrictions to fundamental freedoms and political rights, firmly controlled media and a tightening grip on civil society, as well as shortcomings related to candidate registration and the legal framework”, the spokesperson said. Surveillance cameras appear to have filmed cases of ballot stuffing.
The party of President Vladimir Putin, United Russia, is expected to win an outright majority, with 338 of the 450 seats in the Duma. Turnout was 47.7%, much lower than the 60% in 2011. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)