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29 Nov, 2007 15:37

Moscow slams observers` withdrawal

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says it’s still unclear why election observers from Europe pulled out of this weekend’s Russian parliamentary election.

Lavrov made the statement during a Madrid session of foreign ministers from the Council of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Washington denies Moscow's allegations that they are behind the move.

According to Lavrov, Russia is living up to its international commitments.

“We have fully fulfilled our commitments resulting from the documents adopted by the OSCE. According to them, every OSCE member-state is obliged to invite international observers to monitor elections. The monitoring should be carried out based on the national legislation of the inviting party,” said he.

“We did everything in strict accordance with the obligation. And it's not clear why the head of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights unilaterally decided not to send observers although he received a respective invitation,” concluded Lavrov.

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