The Foreign Ministry encountered difficulties in preparing for presidential elections abroad

Where did problems with voting occur?

The Foreign Ministry traditionally faces difficulties in the Baltic countries.
Charge d’Affaires of Russia in Latvia Oleg Zykov said on February 9 that Latvia does not want to fulfill international obligations and ensure security at polling stations during the Russian presidential elections. According to him, the Latvian side has been ignoring the embassy’s requests on this issue for several months. In addition, the country’s leadership does not respond to requests to ban anti-Russian demonstrations in front of the diplomatic mission building on election day.
On February 6, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned charge chargés ad interim of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia due to the lack of response from the authorities of these states to Russia’s appeal to ensure security at polling stations in the Russian embassies in Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn. The department reported that “creating difficulties during elections will cause serious protest” among Russians living in these countries, since this violates their constitutional rights.
During the 2018 presidential elections, the Russian Foreign Ministry was “discouraged” by the decision of the Latvian authorities, who limited the organization of polling stations for Russian citizens who intended to take part in the elections.
Russia faced similar difficulties in opening foreign sites in Ukraine even before the special operation: there were problems there already in the 2016 State Duma elections, Lyubarev added.