MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. The report by the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee calling for being ready for refusal to recognize the State Duma elections is abnormal, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the YouTube channel Solovyov Live on Tuesday.

"Whenever some kind of justice is on the agenda, everything should be this way: first there may happen a violation of legislation or international law, then this violation of internal legislation is put on record, and ultimately there follow an assessment and conclusions. In this particular case it is the other way round. First there is the conclusion the EU should be prepared to refuse [to recognize the State Duma elections], while the presumed event follows second. This is somewhat abnormal."

Earlier, the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee suggested the EU should be prepared to refuse to recognize the State Duma elections, if Brussels finds that elections were held in violation of international norms. The wording of the document was approved by 56 members of the committee, nine voted against and another five abstained. The European Parliament's reports and resolutions have the status of recommendations and do not have to be followed by other EU institutions. The European Parliament's recognition of foreign political institutions does not entail any legal implications.

The elections of the eighth State Duma are due on the single voting day, September 19, 2021. The process of casting ballots will be extended over three days: September 17, 18, and 19. Alongside the State Duma elections, there will be direct elections of the heads of nine Russian regions (in another three regions the top executive officials will be elected by the local legislatures) and the elections of 39 regional parliaments.