The Presidential Elections in Russia were not Democratic

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

 

POSITION

of

the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria

on the provocative holding of elections for president of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Crimea, that is occupied by Russia and that belongs to Ukraine 

20.03.2018

 

The Atlantic Council of Bulgaria does not recognize the illegitimate and illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and this is the reason why we do not recognize also the legitimacy of the presidential elections held on the peninsula by the country that occupied it.

Voting in Crimea and Sevastopol in the Russian presidential elections constitutes an act of complicity in the offense “illegitimate electoral process”. The fact of holding elections on an occupied territory of a foreign country represents an evidence for the undemocratic nature of the electoral legislation and process of the Russian Federation. The undemocratic nature of the elections in Russia is proved also by the following facts:

  • The elimination in advance of potential candidates (Boris Nemtzov, assassinated, and Alexey Navalni, barred from running);
  • The total antidemocratic propaganda during the elections campaigns of a number of candidates;
  • The information about thousands of abuses during the elections day, including the numerous attempts aimed at voting manipulation through feeding the ballot boxes with ballot papers prepared in advance.

The Atlantic Council of Bulgaria calls the Bulgarian President, Parliament and Government to unconditionally condemn the elections in Crimea and Sevastopol that were organized by Russia.

The Atlantic Council of Bulgaria expects that the Bulgarian State institutions as well as all the Bulgarian citizens, when carrying out their interactions with official and unofficial representatives of the Russian Federation, to take into account the fact that the Kremlin’s policy continues to represent a threat to the Bulgarian, European and global security.

The Atlantic Council of Bulgaria will continue to monitor with heightened focus the crackdown on democracy and the rule of law in the Russian Federation, as these presidential elections held there did not result in a democratic political change.

 

The Atlantic Council of Bulgaria

Program „Civil Society and Democracy

 

 

Categorised in: