Press Release

03/12/2007

Russia must investigate reports of unfair elections. Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP

"If Russia wants to show it has an open and transparent democracy, it must investigate all reports of unfair elections. We must take the observations of the mission of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) very seriously. The observation mission concluded that Sunday's elections were unfair and did not meet certain international criteria", said Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP, Co-Chair of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. She urges the newly-elected Duma to request such an investigation.

The two Co-Chairs of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee adopted a joint statement on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Committee last Friday. Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP and Oleg Morozov MP (Russian Duma) stated that the future Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Russia should reflect mutual interest based on the common values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights.

Oomen-Ruijten said: "If we declare to have common values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights, it is important to deal with the accusations that the elections were unfair."

Joint Statement Oomen-Ruijten - Morozov.

For further information:
Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845863
Eduard Slootweg, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-475-721280

Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 278 Members from all 27 Member States.