• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the imitation of elections in Russia

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2024.03.18

The procedure imitating the Russian presidential election, which took place on 15-17 March 2024 under the conditions of an unprecedented restriction of civil and political rights, cannot be considered or called an election, because it was neither fair nor free, nor did it comply with any universally accepted standards of democracy and the rule of law.

As Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian authorities, which organised the imitation of an election procedure, took indiscriminate reprisals and unlawful actions against the opposition and representatives of the civil society, suppressed the voice of the independent media, and, in breach of international commitments, failed to invite observers from the OSCE/ODIHR to monitor the elections.

The death of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny under mysterious circumstances in the Russian Arctic prison just before this sham election that has shocked the world, the unjustified imprisonment of other political opponents of the regime, the persecution of people who hold different opinions in Russia and even abroad - all of this reaffirms the Russian Government's desire to silence anyone who dares to fight for freedom and democracy.

The new "mandate" for Vladimir Putin under these circumstances lacks any democratic legitimacy.

Moreover, in a complete disregard for international law, including the United Nations Charter, Russia also organised an imitation of election in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine - the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Lithuania, together with the entire European Union, does not recognise and will never recognise the results of this fake procedure in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. These results are null and void and can have no legal effect. The Russian political leadership and the individuals involved in organising this political spectacle will suffer the consequences of their illegal actions.

Lithuania also strongly condemns the bogus procedure in the Russian occupied regions of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia in Georgia and Transnistria in Moldova, organised against the will and without the consent of the governments there. This is yet another despicable assault on the sovereignty of neighbouring countries. Lithuania emphatically reiterates its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.