Voice communications: BRICS countries will observe the State Duma elections

Parties from the BRICS countries want to send observers to the Russian State Duma elections in the fall of 2026, United Russia told Izvestia. In addition to them, political forces from Belarus, Mongolia and Vietnam can take part. International public surveillance is an important legitimacy tool, the Civic Chamber clarified. But experts from friendly countries are interested in Russian electoral practices, in particular, the experience of using remote voting.

Which states will send observers to the State Duma elections

Elections to the State Duma will be held in Russia in the autumn of 2026. At the end of September, citizens will elect 450 deputies for the next five years. Thousands of observers across the country will be watching the vote. In the elections to the State Duma in 2021, their number exceeded 490 thousand people, including 245 international specialists from 59 countries.

As of today, parties from four BRICS member countries — Brazil, India, China and South Africa, as well as from Belarus and Vietnam, which have received partner status under this structure, are ready to send their representatives to the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, United Russia told Izvestia. In addition, representatives of Mongolia may come.

— This year we will have a large-scale election campaign. Many of our partners have already expressed their desire to participate in this campaign as observers. We are currently working on this issue," the party said.

The topic of inviting election observers is likely to be raised at EP meetings with the parties of the BRICS countries. In 2026, she is scheduled to visit China, India and Brazil.

"We will hold important meetings there and sign a number of inter—party documents, respectively, with the Communist Party of China, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Workers' Party," the EP said. "Dialogue with colleagues from Mongolia, North Korea, and Southeast Asian countries has intensified. Good progress can be expected in relations with the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The political force is also in active contact with South Africa, in particular with the African National Congress.

Russia maintains strong ties with friendly countries regarding issues related to the monitoring of electoral processes. For example, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation has repeatedly sent observers and experts to the BRICS countries, Alexander Asafov, first deputy chairman of the Civic Chamber Commission on public expertise of draft laws, recalled in a conversation with Izvestia.

— International public observations are an important tool of legitimacy, because an external view is always important and useful. Foreign experts and observers are interested in how remote electronic voting (DEG) works in our country. They come to see, gain experience and then implement it themselves," the expert explained.

Observers from the CIS countries should also be expected this year. In 2021, the elections were monitored by a mission of 68 people, including representatives of the CIS member states, the CSTO PA and the Union State. It is possible that some experts from the European Parliament or other Western structures will come. Last time, a five-member PACE delegation came to Moscow to assess the parliamentary elections. However, this time, due to the deterioration of relations with the West, they are unlikely to have an official status - most likely, we will be talking about experts who will visit the Russian Federation on their own, and not on behalf of one organization or another.

Izvestia sent a request to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation with a request to clarify which countries and organizations will participate in monitoring the upcoming elections to the State Duma.

Open a campaign: the selection of candidates for the State Duma elections has started in the EP

The party will provide special attention and benefits during the preliminary voting to its veterans.

How the Russian Federation strengthens inter-party ties with other countries

The list of observers from the BRICS countries is an important signal that these countries are interested in Russia as a stable, reliable and predictable partner, Oleg Lyakhovenko, Deputy dean of the Faculty of Political Science at Lomonosov Moscow State University, told Izvestia. Such a step can be considered as the result of successful inter-party contacts between the Russian Federation and other countries.

United Russia is actively developing the movement "For the Freedom of Nations!" today. The purpose of the platform is to counter modern practices of neocolonialism, from which most states of the Global South suffer, the EP clarified. The party is working in this direction with the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and the group of Friends in defense of the UN Charter.

"At the end of the year, we will hold a General Assembly of the movement, which will be attended by representatives of the ruling parties from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe — the widest range of progressive forces of humanity," the EP told Izvestia.

The CPRF cooperates primarily with the communist and leftist parties of the world from China, Venezuela, North Korea and Cuba. The Communists created a public committee in the State Duma for the release of Nicolas Maduro. Today, they are in contact with dozens of countries, planning international actions in support of the former leader of Venezuela, who is currently being held in an isolation ward in the United States, Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said earlier.

Despite the fact that in recent years the focus on inter-party cooperation has shifted to the regions of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, Russia retains ties with a number of European parties. In June 2025, the Liberal Democratic Party signed a cooperation agreement with United Serbia. Senator Elena Afanasyeva noted that working together will help develop youth initiatives, strengthen the women's agenda and protect historical memory.

At its congress in early March, New People signed a declaration on mutual cooperation with the European Alliance of National Movements. It is a small party that is part of the European Parliament and unites eurosceptics, supporters of traditional values and a strict migration policy. The congress was attended by its members from Austria, Italy and the Netherlands. According to Airat Akhmetzyanov, head of the New People's executive committee, the Russian party seeks to "build a dialogue with sensible European politicians in order to overcome the crisis of trust" between Russia and Europe.