Russia sends observers to monitor S. Ossetian parliamentary elections - Putin
MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - The parliamentary elections in South Ossetia will be democratic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"I know that you are holding parliamentary elections in June. I am sure that you will do everything for the elections to be held fully in accordance with the law, on the democratic basis. For our part, we agreed to send observers to South Ossetia [to monitor] parliamentary elections," Putin said at a meeting with his South Ossetian counterpart Anatoly Bibilov on Wednesday.
Russia and South Ossetia are "strategic partners in the full sense of this word," Putin said.
"We do everything to ensure the socio-economic development of the republic and to provide security. There is no doubt that this work will continue in the same vein and with the same quality," Putin said.
For his part, Bibilov stressed the importance of top-level meetings between the leaders of South Ossetia and Russia.
"This gives confidence that the development of South Ossetia and South Ossetia's strategic partnership with Russia at a high level," Bibilov said.