International

International leaders react to Putin's re-election: "There is no legitimacy in this mock election"

"Vladimir Putin wants to rule forever, and the presidential election in Russia was an illegitimate imitation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after Putin won a new term. The White House said Russia's election "was not free and fair" because it jailed opponents and prevented others from running.

The Kiev leader said in his speech that "the Russian dictator is faking another election" and that Putin "was sick of power and is doing everything to rule forever."

“There is no legitimacy in this mock election and there cannot be. There is no evil he will not commit to prolong his personal power. This person should be tried in The Hague. That is what we need to ensure," Zelenskiy said.

The vote in Russia "did not take place in a transparent and democratic manner," the Czech Foreign Ministry said. The election took place "during the aggressive war against Ukraine and against the backdrop of the systematic suppression of Russian civil society, independent media and any semblance of opposition," Prague diplomacy said.

The Czech Republic considers the "elections" in the occupied areas of Ukraine an "illegitimate electoral farce" and does not intend to recognize the results of this vote. Russians "did not have access to complete and independent information and could not vote for candidates opposed to the current regime," the Foreign Ministry added.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, ironically "congratulated" the Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election in the presidential election on Friday, the first day of the elections.

The Foreign Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, on Sunday lamented the absence of "free and fair" elections in Russia, where Vladimir Putin won the presidential elections with over 87% of the votes, reports Hotnews.ro.

The widow of Aleksei Navalny thanked, on Sunday evening, through a message posted on X, all those who were with her on the day of the elections in Russia, specifying that the fight will continue. Iulia Navalnaia participated in a protest in Berlin on election day.

"Thank you very much to the wonderful people, the best, who stood by my side today, from 12:00, for six whole hours, side by side, in line at the polling station. Thank you for coming, for crying, for laughing. Thank you for endlessly shouting "Iulia, we are with you" and "Navalnii" and for telling me that I gave you hope. In fact, of course, it's the other way around - you're the ones who give me hope that it's not all in vain, that we'll keep fighting. Thank you to everyone who came out to every city around the world. You are my support. I love you all very much," Navalny's widow wrote on Twitter.

We remind that Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a new six-year term in the Kremlin with 87.32% of the vote, according to the Central Electoral Commission of Russia after counting more than 99 percent of the minutes of the presidential election. Voter turnout was 74.22 percent, and his main challengers got less than 13 percent of the vote. More than 8 million people voted online in the election, an official of Russia's Central Election Commission said on Sunday.

More than 46 thousand citizens from the left of the Nistru took part in the presidential elections organized by the Russian Federation, writes the media from the region. Over 24,000 people participated in the voting booths in Tiraspol, in Bender - almost 11,000, in Grigoriopol about 5,000 voters and in Rîbnița - 6 thousand.

The voter turnout has decreased. If in 2018 73,000 citizens participated in the Russian presidential election, this year 27,000 fewer citizens voted.

We remind you that between March 15 and 17, the Russian presidential elections took place. Yesterday, this election was also organized in the Republic of Moldova. Russia illegally opened six polling stations in the Transnistrian region, and the authorities in Chisinau condemned this action.

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