Diplomats and employees of diplomatic missions of the USA will not allow for the observation of elections in Russia
American diplomats and employees of American diplomatic missions in the Russian Federation will not be allowed to monitor the upcoming presidential elections in Russia, said on Thursday “Interfax” Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“U.S. citizens are included in the mission of the office for democratic institutions and human rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE election observation is, of course, will be able to perform all relevant functions in the elections of the President of the Russian Federation,” Ryabkov said.
“As for U.S. diplomats and employees of American diplomatic missions in the Russian Federation, they will not be admitted to this process given the fact that during the US elections in 2016, the Russian foreign employees in the U.S. this possibility was denied” — added the Deputy Minister.
According to him, “accordingly, soon after this refusal of the Russian foreign Ministry officially notified the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that the upcoming us election, diplomats and employees of American consulates General in Russia admitted to observation will not be”.
“But I repeat that this does not apply to those U.S. citizens who come to us in the framework of the OSCE ODIHR election observation”, — said Ryabkov.
In mid-January, a source in the Russian foreign Ministry told “Interfax” that the CEC sent the proposal to strip American diplomats the right to be observers at the forthcoming presidential elections in Russia.
Later, the CEC member Vasily Likhachev said that the CEC will consider the proposal of the Ministry of foreign Affairs and, most likely, will agree. “While I am not familiar with the document of the foreign Ministry, but, as a rule, the recommendation of the Ministry of foreign Affairs is a priority for any Russian companies”, — he said.
HelpHow to vote in the election presidentwisely of the President of Russia will take place on 18 March 2018. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the head of state is elected for a six-year term by universal, equal and direct secret ballot.Read more