Klimkin justifies shutting down polling stations in Russia this year

The Russian government can’t ensure voting occurs in
accordance with OSCE standards, which is among the reasons why the Foreign
Affairs Ministry of Ukraine requested shutting polling stations in Russia for
this year’s elections, Minister Pavlo Klimkin explained in a column published
on Jan. 3 on the pravda.com.ua news site. “Russia is very far from democratic
norms and international law” and can’t ensure fair elections, he said, as
demonstrated by its support for illegal elections in Ukraine and its
interference in elections in the West. Secondly, Russia is an aggressor and
occupier of Ukraine, so holding elections there is “a priori a very problematic
and risky step,” he said.

Thirdly, one has to be “incurably naïve to believe
that the FSB and other Russian institutions won’t influence Ukrainian elections
on its territory,” Klimkin said, referring to the Federal Security Service of
Russia. Additionally, the safety of Ukrainian citizens voting can’t be guaranteed
and they could be targeted by the FSB for persecution, he said, arguing that
Ukrainians are better off returning to Ukraine to vote.

At the request of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the
Central Election Commission of Ukraine decided on Dec. 31 to shut down
Ukrainian polling stations in Russia. Presidential elections are scheduled for
March 31. In response to the decision, Ukraine’s two leading Russian-oriented
parties have filed court appeals alleging it was illegal. The appeal from the
Opposition Bloc party was rejected by a Kyiv court on Jan. 6.

Zenon Zawada: There’s no
better example of a political football than this issue, especially considering
how few Ukrainians would have likely voted in Moscow in these elections. Yet
both the Poroshenko administration and the Russian-oriented forces have milked
it for all it’s worth. This decision won’t affect the elections in any
significant way. The vast majority of Ukrainians in Russia were unlikely to
vote, neither in Moscow nor in Ukraine itself. Instead it will give opposition
forces another reason to question the legitimacy of the vote, albeit a weak
one.