Russia Will Not Send Its Observers To Presidential Elections In Belarus

The RF Central Election Commission did not receive an official invitation from the Belarusian colleagues.

The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation did not receive an official invitation from the Belarusian colleagues to participate in monitoring the presidential election and decided not to send its observers to Belarus. The chairman of the commission Ella Pamfilova informed TASS about it.

- First of all, the CEC of Russia has not received the traditional official invitation from its Belarusian colleagues, which is sent in advance in accordance with the existing bilateral agreement on cooperation of June 4, 1998, - Pamfilova said.

According to her, Russian observers, who are usually part of the mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), "are also unable to arrive in Belarus this year because ODIHR has received the relevant official invitation from the Belarusian side very late."

- However, the CEC does not consider it possible to send representatives to Belarus as part of the CIS observation mission, taking into account, to put it mildly, a very specific attitude of the Belarusian leadership to the coronavirus pandemic, - Pamfilova added.

She noted that as the head of the Central Election Commission, "she has no right to endanger her colleagues' health and personal safety".