Russians working in Kosovo likely to vote online

The Russian Embassy in Albania has confirmed that a polling station in Tirana will open for the upcoming presidential election in Russia, which is scheduled for 17 March.

As reportedly responding to Radio Free Europe, Russian citizens will rightly vote on election day. In response, the Russian Embassy said it would announce later on what time the polling station will open inside the building.

The REL also received confirmation from the Russian Embassy in Skopje that Russian citizens in Northern Macedonia will be able to vote in this embassy, giving no more details.

However, REL failed to get information on the possibility of voting Russian citizens in Montenegro. According to data that REL has provided from police in Montenegro, which is July 2023, in this country around 25,000 Russians have residence permits.

Of the Western Balkan states, three are on the Russian list “of enemy countries”, in which there are currently 49 states. Among them are Albania, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro.

The list of enemy “states” was created by Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry in April 2021, about two months after the launch of Ukraine's Russian occupation, to which the West responded by sanctions against Moscow.

Russia does not recognise Kosovo's independence. However, in this country she has a liaison office.

So far there is no confirmation or denial from Moscow that voting for the Russian presidential elections will be allowed at any of the <x0 individual states of “, including the 27 European Union member states.

About voting in Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia

In a telephone conversation with Radio Free Europe, from the Russian Office in Kosovo said Russian citizens working in Kosovo would be able to vote online. From this office they also said it was a very small number “ ” voters, but no additional details were specified about the possibility of them voting via the internet.

The REL has learned from Bosnia and Herzegovina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that competent representatives of Russia have addressed this state with a demand to hold elections, respectively, of voting at the Russian Embassy in Bosnia.

However, in the Russian request, according to the same source, the Council of Ministers, which makes the final decision, has still not approved the Russian request due to some “legal regimes” in demand. But the source of the REL did not show what shortcomings are involved.

The Russian Embassy in Sarajevo has not answered REL's question about the possibility of Russian citizens voting in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Meanwhile, as for Serbia, there is currently no information about whether Russian citizens can vote from this state. REL's request for comment on the issue did not answer the Russian Embassy in Belgrade, but not Serbia's competent institutions.

After the start of the war in Ukraine, a large number of Russian citizens have gone to Serbia. The latest data for Russians who stayed in Serbia was published eight months ago. Later, Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs told REL that almost 30,000 Russians are residing in Serbia, which have temporary stance.

What is the election procedure in Russia?

Under the Russian Central Election Commission's decision, the final voter list will be completed 45 before the vote, which falls on December 29th and 30th. The possibility of restoring the list in particular cases is possible, but these improvements can be made either later than five days before holding elections.

Under further procedure, the Central Election Commission completes the procedure of getting signatures in support of candidates for president. The list of candidates is expected to be announced in the early days of February.

The hold of Russian presidential elections was announced on December 7th 2023. A day later it was announced that current Russian President Vladimir Putin will run as an independent candidate.

So far, Putin has won the presidential post four times -- in 2000, 2004, 2021 and 2018. This time around, elections are being held in an atmosphere that is described with increasing pressure on political dissidents and opponents of the fight against Ukraine, but also between Russia's western isolation. / REL