The OSCE will not send observers to Russia’s parliamentary elections in September.
The OSCE explained its decision by the restrictions imposed by the Russian authorities on the number of observers. Moscow is ready to receive no more than 50 people from the OSCE and ten people from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The reason for such restrictions was called the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country.
The OSCE stressed that the organization must set the number of observers for effective observation, noting that the organization’s recent mission in Russia from May to June concluded that 80 long-term and 420 short-term observers should be sent to the elections.
The OSCE also noted that the Russian authorities had not provided sufficient clarification on how limiting the observer mission would help combat the spread of the coronavirus.