Europe joined the United States on Monday in demanding Russia investigate alleged abuses in an election won overwhelmingly by President Vladimir Putin's party, and Germany denounced the poll as undemocratic.
European states expressed alarm over the outcome of Sunday's parliamentary poll after rights watchdogs said the campaign had been marred by biased media coverage and abuse of government resources in favour of Putin's United Russia.
But analysts said many European states now acknowledged that Moscow, whose cooperation the West wants over disputes from Iran to Kosovo, was increasingly impervious to outside criticism.
With almost all votes counted in the State Duma (lower house) election, Putin's United Russia had won 64.1 percent of votes - nearly six times as many as his nearest rival. "It is vital that the Russian Central Election Commission urgently investigates all allegations of electoral abuses," Britain's foreign ministry said, echoing a similar call from Washington on Sunday.It expressed disappointment that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe had not been able to observe the election. The OSCE cancelled plans to monitor the poll after a row with Moscow over delays in issuing visas.
France expressed the hope that Moscow would "shed light" on the allegations of voting irregularities. Sharper reaction came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, seen as less close to Putin than that of her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder. "Measured by our standards, it was neither a free, fair nor democratic election," said spokesman Thomas Steg. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Russia to probe abuses.
Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer added his voice to concerns, but a spokesman for the 26-nation Western military alliance said Nato would continue a policy of post-Cold War engagement with Russia which has seen patchy results so far.
There was no immediate reaction from the European Union Presidency, but the EU commissioner responsible for ties between Brussels and Moscow said there had been clear abuses. "We saw some violations of basic rights, notably free speech and assembly rights," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters in Berlin.
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