Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the surprisingly bad result for the ruling United Russia party in Sunday's (4 December) election is proof that the vote was free and fair.
Speaking alonsgide party leader and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after initial results came out, Medvedev said: "This is democracy in action. The party has done respectably, the party in essence represents 50 percent of our population ... This result reflects the real mood in the country."
Pu...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.