Press release on why the OSCE ODIHR will not be present among international election observers during the 2024 presidential election in Russia

On January 29, a representative from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced that the organisation would not participate in international monitoring of the presidential election in Russia on March 15-17 citing the lack of an invitation from the Russian side.

The forthcoming electoral process in Russia will be highly transparent. Invitations extended by the Russian authorities will bring in around 1,000 international observers from nearly 100 foreign countries and various international organisations in accordance with the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. The absence of the OSCE ODIHR will not compromise the quality of international observations.

This is not unprecedented, however. Even when invitations were extended to the ODIHR, it consistently opted out of monitoring, presenting unfounded ultimatum-like demands that the Russian Federation, like any other nation, was under no obligation to meet. These demands concerned mission timelines, number of observers, and area restrictions. The conditions that the ODIHR was offered were far better than the conditions offered to other international observers. For instance, in 2021, the ODIHR declined to observe the State Duma elections, demonstratively rejecting Russia’s suggestion to reduce the number of observers due to pandemic restrictions. A similar pattern was observed during the parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia in 2007-2008, when the ODIHR first came up with unacceptable monitoring parameters and then refused to participate altogether.

The ODIHR is used to communicating with the OSCE member countries in an ultimatum-like language. While portrayed as adhering to the ODIHR's golden standards by the Western alliance, it is, in fact, an approach that includes diktat, browbeating, and blackmail. This approach is ineffective with Russia.

The ODIHR does not hold exclusive rights to observe or certify elections, nor does it have the authority to pass judgment. It is merely one of several potential international parties in election observation. Other reputable international entities are willing to participate in observing elections in Russia.

Russia and like-minded nations have consistently proposed developing internationally acceptable rules for election monitoring, ensuring an equitable, impartial, and objective approach. Regrettably, there has been no proper response to these proposals.

The Russian side has run an in-depth analysis of the wealth of data on the ODIHR's activities in all OSCE member countries which revealed bias and inconsistency in its methodology, along with a politicised approach to assessing electoral situations. Geographical divisions between “mature” and “immature” democracies mean, in fact, countries that are more loyal or less loyal to the collective West, contributing to an imbalance in the number of observers sent to the countries located east or west of Vienna.

In fact, the ODIHR is working to execute a political order and is violating the principles of objectivity, impartiality, and professionalism in the process. This is evident in its observation of elections in some Western countries, where the globalist elite have lost some of their influence, and the ODIHR draws the curtain on flaws and violations, focusing its criticism solely on undesirable political forces.

The ODIHR, including its director, has lost credibility. Notably, their above-mentioned position was included in a joint press release by the ODIHR head and OSCE officials dated October 7, 2023.

Acting in violation of their own mandate, they went as far as to condemn the holding of Russian elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. This hatchet job has not yet been rescinded.

Given this state of affairs, and unlike organisations with untarnished reputations that adhere to the principles of objectivity and impartiality, the ODIHR election observation mission has no place at the upcoming presidential election in the Russian Federation.

Russia hopes that the ODIHR’s senior officials and its fervent supporters will draw the proper conclusions from this situation and take corrective action to restore trust among the OSCE member states.