European Parliament Refuses to Recognize Russia’s New State Duma, Urges EU to Cut Contact

The European Parliament has refused to recognize the State Duma  formed after Russia’s September 2026 parliamentary elections, with 482 lawmakers voting in favor of the resolution, 41 against, and 39 abstaining, the European Parliament reported on October 8.

The resolution concludes that the elections were neither free nor fair and that the resulting State Duma cannot be considered a legitimate representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation.

The vote followed elections held across Russia from September 18 to 20, which Parliament said took place without genuine political competition and amid systematic repression. Russia also organized voting in temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as temporarily occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

Independent analysis of Russia’s election results also raised questions about the scale of United Russia’s victory. While official results gave the ruling party nearly 58% of the vote, analysis of precincts without major statistical anomalies put its support at roughly 34%, while separate estimates placed actual turnout below 40%, compared with the official figure of more than 59%.

The resolution noted that Russia did not invite the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to observe the elections. It also cited reports of ballot stuffing, statistical anomalies, vote transfers, and turnout spikes.

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The document also stated that opposition politicians had been imprisoned, forced into exile, or barred from standing, while Yabloko candidates were excluded from the federal list.

Parliament separately condemned the voting organized in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories and said it does not recognize any legal or political consequences arising from them. It called for EU sanctions against those involved in organizing or standing as candidates in the illegal polls.

The European Parliament called on the Council of the EU and member states to adopt the same position of non-recognition toward the State Duma formed after the September elections.

Before the vote, Russian authorities sent mobile election teams to homes in temporarily occupied Donetsk alongside armed servicemen and police. Footage showed residents casting ballots outside their homes while armed personnel stood nearby.

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