The ECR Group says Russia’s so-called State Duma elections were a carefully staged exercise designed to reinforce Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule, not a democratic vote. Elections held without genuine political competition, while opponents are imprisoned and independent media silenced, cannot confer democratic legitimacy on the Kremlin. Ahead of the vote on a European Parliament resolution on the elections, the ECR Group is calling for the release of political prisoners, tougher sanctions against the Kremlin and a clear rejection of any return to business as usual through renewed trade in cheap Russian raw materials. The Group also particularly condemns the holding of the pseudo-vote in occupied Ukrainian territories and rejects any attempt by Moscow to use it to legitimise its illegal occupation.

Speaking in the plenary debate, ECR Shadow Rapporteur Rihards Kols said:

“The Kremlin staged what it called elections to state Duma. It imprisoned opponents, crushed independent media, and forced voting on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory.

“Among the newly manufactured deputies, 46 served in the invasion forces or ran occupation administrations. This charade was designed to renew the mandate of a regime built for repression at home and aggression abroad.”

Kols warned that the Kremlin’s repression at home and its aggression against Ukraine are part of the same political system, and that Europe should harbour no illusions that meaningful change can come from within:

“Europe keeps waiting for Russian society to wake up, but you cannot wake someone who is only pretending to sleep. The handful of Russians who genuinely resist deserve our protection, but their courage cannot become Europe’s excuse for wishful thinking. There is only one precondition for democracy in Russia: Defeat in Ukraine, full accountability, and the total collapse of Russian imperial ambition.”

ECR Foreign Affairs Coordinator Adam Bielan said that the result of the pseudo-election could under no circumstances be recognised. Instead, the European Union should work on further sanctions and press for the release of political prisoners. Under no circumstances, he said, should Europe return to business as usual with the repressive regime.

“The exclusion of opposition figures such as the Yabloko party proves that Putin wants no debate whatsoever. Journalists and civic activists face repression, and Kremlin critics are imprisoned. Under such conditions, there can be no question of free elections.

“Europe must toughen sanctions against the Kremlin and support independent Russian media, as well as those who oppose the war and repression. We demand the release of political prisoners!

“Enough with empty words and the hope that everything will end amicably, allowing European states to calmly return to trading in cheap Russian raw materials.”