FRF has called on the European Parliament to draw a clear conclusion from Russia’s 2026 State Duma elections. Political opponents remain imprisoned, genuine opposition candidates were prevented from competing, independent election monitoring has been dismantled, and voting was conducted in illegally occupied Ukrainian territories. A parliament formed under these conditions cannot claim a democratic mandate. Repression at home and illegal occupation abroad cannot be the basis for democratic legitimacy.
Dear European Parliament Rapporteurs on Russia,
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
As you negotiate the European Parliament’s resolution on the 2026 State Duma elections, we encourage you to draw the appropriate political conclusion from an electoral process that offered Russian citizens no meaningful democratic choice.
The new State Duma is the product of systematic political repression, the imprisonment of political opponents, the exclusion and intimidation of independent and anti‑war political actors, the prevention of genuine opposition candidates from participating, the dismantling of meaningful independent election monitoring, and voting conducted by the Russian authorities in Ukrainian territories under illegal occupation. These are not isolated electoral irregularities, but fundamental circumstances that deprive the resulting parliament of a democratic mandate.
Political prisoners remain behind bars for exercising fundamental rights, while independent politicians, activists, and potential candidates have faced imprisonment, prosecution, disqualification, intimidation, or exile. Under these conditions, Russian citizens were denied the possibility of genuine political competition and meaningful electoral choice.
For Russian democrats, treating such a parliament as a democratically legitimate representative body would mean accepting the outcome of a process designed to eliminate genuine political competition and silence dissent, while extending Russia’s electoral system into illegally occupied Ukrainian territory.
We therefore urge the European Parliament to state clearly that it does not recognize the State Duma constituted following the September 2026 elections as a democratically elected and legitimate representative legislature of the Russian Federation, and to call on the Council and EU Member States to reflect this position in their political and institutional engagement with Russian state bodies.
Such a position would send an important signal to Russian pro‑democracy forces and civil society, including political prisoners, their families, and those who continue to resist authoritarian rule from inside the country. It would also reaffirm a fundamental European principle: repression at home and illegal occupation cannot serve as the basis for democratic legitimacy.
Sincerely,
Natalia Arno, Free Russia Foundation, President
Vladimir Kara‑Murza, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President
Vladimir Milov, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President
Grigory Frolov, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President
FRF has called on the European Parliament to draw a clear conclusion from Russia’s 2026 State Duma elections. Political opponents remain imprisoned, genuine opposition candidates were prevented from competing, independent election monitoring has been dismantled, and voting was conducted in illegally occupied Ukrainian territories. A parliament formed under these conditions cannot claim a democratic mandate. Repression at home and illegal occupation abroad cannot be the basis for democratic legitimacy.
Dear European Parliament Rapporteurs on Russia,
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
As you negotiate the European Parliament’s resolution on the 2026 State Duma elections, we encourage you to draw the appropriate political conclusion from an electoral process that offered Russian citizens no meaningful democratic choice.
The new State Duma is the product of systematic political repression, the imprisonment of political opponents, the exclusion and intimidation of independent and anti‑war political actors, the prevention of genuine opposition candidates from participating, the dismantling of meaningful independent election monitoring, and voting conducted by the Russian authorities in Ukrainian territories under illegal occupation. These are not isolated electoral irregularities, but fundamental circumstances that deprive the resulting parliament of a democratic mandate.
Political prisoners remain behind bars for exercising fundamental rights, while independent politicians, activists, and potential candidates have faced imprisonment, prosecution, disqualification, intimidation, or exile. Under these conditions, Russian citizens were denied the possibility of genuine political competition and meaningful electoral choice.
For Russian democrats, treating such a parliament as a democratically legitimate representative body would mean accepting the outcome of a process designed to eliminate genuine political competition and silence dissent, while extending Russia’s electoral system into illegally occupied Ukrainian territory.
We therefore urge the European Parliament to state clearly that it does not recognize the State Duma constituted following the September 2026 elections as a democratically elected and legitimate representative legislature of the Russian Federation, and to call on the Council and EU Member States to reflect this position in their political and institutional engagement with Russian state bodies.
Such a position would send an important signal to Russian pro‑democracy forces and civil society, including political prisoners, their families, and those who continue to resist authoritarian rule from inside the country. It would also reaffirm a fundamental European principle: repression at home and illegal occupation cannot serve as the basis for democratic legitimacy.
Sincerely,
Natalia Arno, Free Russia Foundation, President
Vladimir Kara‑Murza, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President
Vladimir Milov, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President
Grigory Frolov, Free Russia Foundation, Vice President