OSCE/ODIHR conclusions on Belarusian elections politicized - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry finds the recent parliamentary elections in Belarus to be free and open and regrets the "special" opinion of the OSCE Office on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the matter.
"The monitoring was conducted by numerous observers from the Russian Federation and various international structures, in particular, the Commonwealth of Independent States. They find the elections to be free, open, and conducted in a calm atmosphere with a high voter turnout," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report posted on its website on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, as it usually happens in such situations, the 'special' attention of the OSCE Office on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), whose tentative conclusions are again dominated by a politicized approach, creates dissonance," the ministry said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed confidence that "citizens of Belarus were able to make their choice" in the elections.
The Russian ministry also said that "the difference in the evaluation on of the elections, this time in the Republic of Belarus, again confirms the importance of developing and making unified collectively approved rules governing election observation and summing up the election outcome and the electoral processes in general on the OSCE space. Russia and its partners constantly point that out."
The Russian ministry has recalled that a draft version of the appropriate document submitted by Russia and some other members of the OSCE was submitted to the OSCE back in 2007.
The ministry also pointed out Russia's readiness to continue actively developing its bilateral relations with Belarus.
Av jv
(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru