SWR director accuses the EU of interfering in the elections in Russia

Sergei Naryshkin, in an interview with Russia's Channel One, stated that the European Union interfered in the parliamentary elections in Russia.

The interference took place, we noted it, said the director of SWR, quoted by The Moscow Times. According to him, the European Commission had previously prepared a position in which the elections would be considered irregular.

Naryshkin did not present any details or materials that would confirm these claims.

Voting results according to the Russian commission

According to preliminary data from the Russian Central Election Commission quoted by the website, United Russia won 57.97 percent. votes in the proportional part and won in 208 out of 225 single-member districts.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, New People and A Just Russia were also to enter the Duma. Turnout was estimated at 56.66 percent.

However, some analysts who examined the official results using statistical methods questioned the actual scale of voting participation. According to the quoted experts, the actual turnout could have been lower than 40%.

The European Union said that the Russian elections were held in conditions of "deepening erosion of democracy" and without equal conditions of competition for all candidates.

The position noted, among others, the non-admission of the federal list of the Yabloko party and the lack of observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Russian electoral commission, however, reported that two cases of additional ballots being thrown into the ballot boxes were registered during the vote - in the annexed Crimea and in the republic of Mari El.