The Russian State Duma election kicked off, and Russia warned the European Union and the United States not to interfere

The election of the Eighth Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) officially kicked off on the 17th, and the voting work will continue until the 19th. In order to ensure the smooth progress of this important political activity, the Russian Government has recently issued warnings to the European Union and the United States one after another, asking the United States and Europe not to interfere in Russia's internal affairs.

The Russian State Duma is composed of 450 deputies for a term of 5 years. It is a permanent legislature of Russia, which is mainly responsible for drafting and formulating national laws, considering the appointment of the President to the Prime Minister of the Government and deciding on the issue of confidence in the President. According to the Russian News Agency and other media reported on the 17th, in this year's election, 3812 candidates from 14 political parties in Russia participated in the election, and the registered voters reached 108 million. Russia has set up more than 96,000 polling stations in the country and opened 348 polling stations in 144 countries and regions. Russian presidential press secretary Peskov said on the 17th that President Putin had voted for the national Duma election through online means on the same day.

"The election of new members of the Duma is undoubtedly the most important event in the life of our society and our country." Putin delivered a speech on the 16th, calling on the public to vote enthusiastically. Russian "Kommers" and other media reported that in order to ensure the smooth progress of the election, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova warned the United States on the 16th not to interfere in Russia's internal affairs, and Moscow's patience is limited. She urged the U.S. side to take steps as soon as possible to prevent U.S. companies from interfering in Russia's domestic elections. The Russian opposition has created a mobile app called Smart Voting. According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 17th, the procedure can provide advice for Russian voters and guide them to drive "Kremlin allies" out of the state Duma. Deninin, director of the Russian Center for Political Analysis and Social Research, said the "smart vote" was supported by foreign countries, especially American IT giants such as Google and Apple. On the 17th, Apple and Google have removed the program, which was welcomed by the Russian side, but criticized by the Russian opposition leader Navalny.

Western media have long claimed that the Russian government is suppressing the opposition. Just a day before the election in russia's State Duma, the European Parliament passed a resolution saying that EU countries should be prepared not to recognize the results if Russia is found to have violated democratic procedures and international law in this election. In this regard, Zakharova said that this is a systematic manipulation of European public opinion by members of the European Parliament, and the Russian side strongly condemns this. Novikov, first vice-chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said on Thursday that it was rather strange that European countries were not prepared to admit that elections had not yet been held, either because of their incompetence or as a deliberate provocation. Romanova, an associate professor at St. Petersburg State University, believes that the EU as a whole may recognize the results of the Russian Duma election, but some European politicians will consider the election illegal.

Source: Global Times