The main election monitoring arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) may publish its interim report on the election campaign in Russia on Friday, the Kommersant daily said on Thursday.
Russia’s election authority, the Central Election Commission, has accused the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of applying double standards and politicizing the election process.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed ODIHR source as saying that the report, to be delivered on November 18, would focus on legislation and contain only facts without making any conclusions.
ODIHR spokesperson Jens Eschenbacher confirmed that the report would be published in the coming days, saying it was “a standard practice” and there was nothing uncommon about it.
ODIHR boycotted previous Russian presidential and parliamentary elections in 2007-2008.
The election body was officially invited to send its observers to Russia’s December 4 parliamentary elections, but their number was limited to 200. ODIHR planned to send 260 monitors to Russia.
The mission’s chief, Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, said the organization would make a preliminary report on whether elections in Russia comply with international standards the day after the polls, on December 5.