Members of the State Duma Commission on Investigation into Facts of Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs held a meeting with a member of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation Igor Borisov. The meeting participants discussed issues of coordination of joint work during the presidential elections in Russia.
The Chairman of the Commission Vasily Piskarev noted that NATO states had intensified the activities of intelligence services and “agents of influence” to collect information on problematic issues in the regions of the country. Special research institutes (USA, UK) are measuring the degree of their impact on protest sentiments before the elections.
“The same activity is also recorded by the Central Election Commission, including in OSCE structures actively interfering in the internal affairs of Russia. Attempts to interfere in our elections will be made at all stages of the election campaign: during the period of nominating candidates, during the election campaign and during voting,” said Igor Borisov.
“Foes consider the election campaign as an opportunity to destabilize the situation in Russia, for example by inciting ethnic hatred in the national republics,” said Vasily Piskarev. Thus, according to him, the Commission has recorded an increase in the negative information from foreign agents and foreign media about the people living in those regions of the Federation. There is deliberately being spread information about the allegedly disproportionate participation of representatives of the peoples of Russia in a special military operation, as well as calls for the “dismemberment and decolonization” of the state.
Vasily Piskarev emphasized that the control centers from the USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Ukraine had been recently most active in their attempts aimed at discrediting our elections. More than 100 media projects under their control are preparing foreign audiences to call the presidential elections in Russia illegitimate. The same projects are simultaneously trying to discredit Russian Armed Forces.
“Against this background, the destructive activity of some so-called “relocants” in advance of the elections is also noticeable. Using the support of Western political circles, they are trying to split the patriotic members of the Russian diaspora in foreign states. They are actively developing strategies for participation in the election campaign, information campaigns, and measures to influence the Russian-speaking audience. Street protests are planned to be held at Russian embassies and consulates,” said Vasily Piskarev.
During the meeting, it was noted that a number of foreign NGOs had already sent appeals to international organizations to recognize the Russian elections as “illegal”, “invalid” and “illegitimate”, as well as calls not to send their representatives to monitor the elections in Russia.
Vasily Piskarev added that the Commission had prepared and sent to the relevant authorities proposals to recognize a number of individuals as foreign agents, and foreign non-governmental organizations as undesirable in Russia.
The collected materials about destructive activities against Russia and attempts of interference in the election campaign had been sent to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Central Election Commission, as said the parliamentarian.
Following the working meeting, there was made a decision to create a special monitoring group of the Commission to monitor and prevent attempts of foreign interference in the election campaign, and its task would be to ensure electoral sovereignty and the free expression of the will of citizens.
