Recruiting European political figures to legitimize Vladimir Putin's rule is becoming complicated, but Moscow continues to find ways. In a report published on Friday, April 26, the German NGO European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) revealed the identity of 183 foreign "international observers and experts" who were invited by the Russian authorities to observe the March 2024 presidential election, in which Putin was elected to a fifth term. It has been described by the European Parliament as "illegitimate and undemocratic" and was preceded by the death of opposition figure Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison on February 16.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin's regime has been inviting European elected officials and media personalities to Russia in order to legitimize violations of international law (territorial annexations) and the corruption of democratic rules (rigged elections) to the Russian public and the international community alike. The foreign figures who are invited are displayed in the Russian media as a "democratic" endorsement of the Kremlin's actions. At the 2018 presidential elections, French observers included former ambassador to Moscow Jean Cadet, Rassemblement National (far right) MP Gilbert Collard, Union des Démocrates Indépendants (center right) senator Joël Guérriau, and Thierry Mariani, who was then a member of Les Républicains (right).
At the same time, Russian authorities have gradually reduced their tolerance of independent, qualified observers, including those from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Russia is a member. During the last presidential election, the high level of fraud (media censorship, the exclusion and repression of any genuine opposition, the careful selection of 'rival candidates,' security checks of voters right up to the polling stations, ballot box stuffing and falsification of results) led the Kremlin to organize a sham observation, while all independent observation was banned.
Staging
This staging, under the aegis of Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC), entailed the invitation of 1,115 "international observers and experts" from 129 countries. "We know of cases where observers were contacted by fake NGOs, by the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, and by the Federation Council," reported EPDE board president Stefanie Schiffer. The report was not able to determine whether the observers were paid by Russia, but Schiffer suspects that they were at least reimbursed for their travel expenses, taking the example of one German guest, a regional MP, who declared the reimbursement of his expenses.
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