NATO and the European Union on Thursday assessed that the presidential election, which begins in Russia on Friday and runs through Sunday, the main day, cannot be considered a “fair” or “democratic” election, according to officials from the two institutions. , quoted by AFP.

Moscow, RussiaPhoto: Oleksandr NEMENOV / AFP / Profimedia

“The elections in Russia will be neither free nor fair,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference on Thursday, Agerpres reports.

In order for the elections to be free, there must be “pluralism, several lists (of candidates), open discussions and a free and independent press,” which Russia does not have, Stoltenberg argued.

The spokesperson of the diplomatic office of the European Union, for his part, assessed that it is “very difficult” to consider these elections, which would have reconfirmed Vladimir Putin as the president of Russia without any surprises, as “fair, free and democratic.” ”, in which Russian voters would have a “real choice”.

However, he emphasized that the decision to recognize or not recognize the vote, which is expected to take place over three days, from Friday to Sunday, is left to the discretion of the 27 EU member states.

At the same time, the EU and NATO condemned as “illegal” the holding of these elections in the territories captured and annexed by Russia in Ukraine. These are Luhansk, Donetsk (eastern), Kherson and Zaporizhzhya (southern) regions, as well as Crimea (annexed by Moscow in 2014).

Therefore, “I can already say that the results of these elections” in these territories “will not be recognized” by the European Union, the quoted spokesman said.

Yulia Navalny, the widow of Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on February 16 under at least suspicious circumstances, asked Western leaders on Wednesday not to recognize Russia’s presidential election.

“I appeal to Western political leaders to help the citizens of Russia who are standing up to Putin’s gang,” she wrote in an editorial published in the Washington Post. “The world must finally understand that Putin is not who he claims to be, he is a usurper, a tyrant, a war criminal and a murderer,” she claims.

On Thursday, Ukraine appealed to the international community to reject the results of the Russian presidential election, calling them a “farce”.

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