WASHINGTON – Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission) and Co-Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), will hold a briefing entitled,” The Duma Elections, Politics and Putin: Where is Russia Going?” on Thursday, December 6 at 10:00 a.m. in B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The briefing will focus on the December 2 parliamentary elections, which saw President Vladimir Putin´s United Russia Party win an absolute majority of votes. The lead up to the elections were fraught with many problems that led to significantly less election monitors as well as authorities intimidating the opposition and pressuring voters to support the defacto ruling party – United Russia.
Speakers will include:
Mr. Paul Goble, longtime specialist on the former Soviet Union and post-Soviet states for various government agencies
Dr. Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Editor of The National Interest and a Senior Fellow of Strategic Studies at The Nixon Center.
Dr. Sarah Mendelson, Director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
