EU lawmakers denounce Russian elections in occupied Ukrainian territories as illegal
MEPs Ville Niinistö and Pekka Toveri condemned Russia’s weekend voting in occupied parts of Ukraine, urging the EU to treat the results as null.
European Parliament members Ville Niinistö, chair of the Russia Committee, and Pekka Toveri, leader of the EU-Ukraine parliamentary cooperation committee, together with Sandra Kalniete and Sergey Lagodinsky, condemned the Russian-organized weekend elections in territories seized from Ukraine. They described the ballot as conducted under an oppressive climate, lacking real political competition, with opposition criminalised and independent journalism curtailed.
Russia also refused entry to OSCE election monitors. The vote took place in Crimea and the occupied portions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, breaching the UN Charter and Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The lawmakers urged EU countries to refuse any legal recognition of the results and demanded the release of Jabloko deputy Lev Šlosberg, Maksim Kruglov and all political prisoners. They called for an immediate, unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment from all internationally recognised Ukrainian territory.
Why it matters
The statement underscores the EU’s refusal to legitimize Russia’s contested elections and raises diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
How this story developed
- Sep 12 Russia conducts tightly-controlled parliamentary vote amid fifth year of Ukraine war
- Sep 16 Voting has begun, moving the election from planning to execution.
- Sep 19 Putin framed the election as a plebiscite on the war and called on citizens to turn out in support.
- Sep 19 State pollster VTsIOM said Putin’s trust rating hit 74.2% in the week before the election.
- Sep 21 Election commission chair Ella Pamfilova said preliminary results will be announced Monday at 11 hours (10 hours in Paris).
- Sep 21 Partial results show United Russia holding at least 338 of the 450 Duma seats.
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