LONDON, September 21. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in the UK has slammed the remarks made by the British Foreign Office regarding the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) elections as inappropriate, the diplomatic mission said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We view the statement of the British Foreign Office’s press service made in light of the State Duma elections held on September 17-19 as another attempt to interfere in Russia’s domestic affairs. We consider these actions as unacceptable for civilized nations," the embassy noted.
The Russian diplomatic mission emphasized that the UK "does not want to take notice of the new elements of the Russian electoral system aimed at refining it." "In particular, London was not interested in the online voting technology that was used at the federal elections for the first times or in measures aimed at strengthening institutes of public control over elections, including polling station observation, video broadcasting and immediate publication of results from each station. Instead of recognizing these achievements of the civil society, we see statements from the English about ‘stifling opposition’ and organizing elections on ‘Ukraine’s annexed territories," the mission said.
"London constantly and without any proof accuses us of interfering in democratic processes in the UK, while itself openly instructing what and how citizens and state institutions of our country should do, making their arbitrary assessments later. Russia has been and will categorically oppose these messiah-like approaches. We do not dispute the legitimacy of British electoral processes and state institutions formed on their basis. However, we also won’t accept ‘democratic lessons’ from the country whose electoral system remains a prisoner of medieval tradition," the statement adds.
On Monday, the British Foreign Office claimed that democratic freedoms were undermined during the Russian legislative elections. London also condemned the voting in Crimea which it views as "Ukraine’s sovereign territory".