Statement of the Czech Friends of Free Russia on the Russian “elections” on the occupied territories of Ukraine and beyond

All organisers and participants must be subject of EU sanctions against Russia

On 15 June 2023, the Russian Central Election Commission announced its plan to hold extraordinary “elections” to the “legislative bodies” on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in September 2023. While the main “Election” Day should be held only on 10 September 2023, the preparation and concrete realisation, supported by the army, security apparatus and Russian collaborators has already started.

We, the Czech Friends of Free Russia, resolutely refuse and denounce any such activities, which we deem completely illegitimate, undemocratic and in contradiction with the principles of international law. This process is only a continuation of the ongoing Russian war of aggression aimed to destroy Ukrainian statehood and nationhood. 

Thus, we call on the international community, above all the European Union, its institutions and the member states’ governments, to condemn this practice and impose additional sanctions against all entities and individuals taking part in the so-called elections as their organisers and candidates.

In this context, we deem important to remind how Russian authorities continue repressing and liquidating any attempts of the Russian civil society and local electoral monitoring initiatives to observe elections on the actual Russian territory. The most visible example is the case of Golos and its co-chairman Grigory Melkonyants, who was arrested on 18 August 2023 in an apparent attempt to destroy the remaining parts of the Russian domestic independent observers‘ capacities.

Taking into consideration how the Russian authorities are conducting the “electoral” process(es) in September 2023 and the illegitimate means to boost the support of the ruling elite, we call for non-recognition of the overall result of the local, regional and gubernatorial elections inside the Russian Federation and sanctioning all perpetrators of repressions against independent election monitors, journalists and civil society groups standing up against Kremlin’s dictatorial practices.

We the undersigned,

Helena Langšádlová, Minister of Science, Research and Innovation, Government of the Czech Republic 

Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Jan Bartošek, Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Marek Hilšer, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Pavel Žáček, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Ondřej Kolář, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Petr Gazdík, former Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic 

Tomáš Petříček, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague

Tomáš Fiala, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Adéla Šípová, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Hayato Okamura, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Markéta Gregorová, Member of the European Parliament

Šimon Heller, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Lukáš Wagenknecht, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Miroslav Balatka, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

David Smoljak, Senator, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Martin Exner, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic