EU says Russia elections held under repression

The European Union criticised Russia's parliamentary elections on Friday, accusing the Kremlin of using repression to deny voters “a genuine choice about the future of their country”.

European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said the way the State Duma elections were conducted showed what he called the continued erosion of democracy in Russia.

Wigand told reporters that Russian authorities had increased “systematic and institutionalised repression” to exclude democratic opposition forces.