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US image of democracy champion looks tarnished

Russian legislator Alexei Pushkov said nobody believes that the US conducted its eavesdropping program for the sake of democracy
Head of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Smirnov
Head of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov
© ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

MOSCOW, February 5. /ITAR-TASS/. The image of the United States as the world’s main champion of democracy looks tarnished, head of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov said.

“The very postulate that the United States is doing its utmost for the sake of democracy is devouring itself,” Pushkov told a news conference in Moscow.

First and foremost this is a result of the eavesdropping affair that has affected many world leaders, he said.

“Nobody believes that it was all done for the sake of democracy,” Pushkov said.

“It is quite remarkable that any references to the United States in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe no longer work,” Pushkov said, adding that US policies failed to meet basic European democratic principles, one of which was the absence of capital punishment.