Swedish foreign minister calls Putin’s re-election a sham and the Russian electoral process distorted

Monday, 05 March 2012
Russia must improve its political system, if the country hopes to become a European democracy like the others. This was the view of the Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt when he reacted to the re-election of Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on Swedish television, Bildt said that Sweden would not congratulate Putin on the election results but “we will get to do when he takes over as president, it belongs to pleasantries between countries. He won the election, there is no doubt about it. But a report that we have received from observers also indicate a significant deficiency. This was an unfair election process which was specially arranged to give a result to this direction, it's no doubt about it.”

He adds that “Russia is a neighbour that we must have cooperation with. We are in disagreement at times but we have also an interest in having a relationship with Russia, the country need to be democratized and modernized.

He points that it remains to be seen if the election be perceived as legitimate by the Russian people. “We will follow the progress now. The preliminary report of election observers is important. It points to the importance of Russia, if one is to become a European democracy that others must improve its political system. There must be fairer in relation to which candidates are able to set up and how the election is made.

Basically at the moment there is a pretty good relation between Sweden and Russia, according to the foreign minister. “We have different opinions on certain issues, but we have an interest in developing business relationship and we have a tourist stream that is quite significant. Russia is also a permanent member of UN Security Council.
By Scancomark.se Team

What do you think about this article and us? Please leave a comment