OSCE Decides Not to Observe Russian Elections

(07 Feb 08 – RV) The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s election monitoring arm and the organisation's parliamentary assembly both decided today not to observe Russia's presidential elections next month. In the eyes of Western governments and Kremlin critics in Russia, a boycott by the organization would underscore doubts about the legitimacy of a vote whose result is seen as all but inevitable. We spoke to Dr. David White from the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham. He says President Vladimir Putin’s favoured successor is almost certain to win the election freely, but probably not fairly …