World press "hotly" commented on Mr. Putin's victory
Western media noted that the presidential election in the Russian Federation, which took place on the fourth anniversary of Crimea's reunification with Russia, and against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the West, was marked by an increase in voter turnout compared to 2012.
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| Photo: Sputnik |
The Russian presidential election was held on March 18. Eight people tried to win this position: Sergei Baburin (Party of the General Union of Russia), Pavel Grudinin (Communist Party of Russia), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Vladimir Putin (self-nominated), Ksenia Sobchak ("Civil Initiative"), Maxim Suraykin ("Communist Russia"), Boris Titov (Party of Growth), Grigory Yavlinsky ("Yabloko").
According to preliminary voting results, Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin is leading in the presidential election with 76.41% of the votes after counting 90.02% of the votes.
The Western press has been paying attention not only to the results of the elections, but first of all to the number of people participating in the elections in 2018.
"The biggest question is turnout. Independent polls show that most Russians continue to support Mr. Putin as president. The lack of popular opposition candidates has threatened to keep people at home," -Washington Post wrote.
Several Western publications, notably the French newspaper Parisien, claimed that the number of people participating in the election "in a giant country with at least 11 time zones" had increased compared to 2012.
The Wall Street Journal writes that "Mr. Putin's foreign policy, along with efforts to restore Russia's Armed Forces, has become part of an effort to strengthen the country's position on the international stage—a campaign that has helped Mr. Putin achieve popular prosperity."
Goals for the next 6 years
Western press noted that the initial results of the vote showed Mr. Putin's victory.
"Vladimir Putin secures the period until 2024",- writes the German edition of Suddeutsche Zeitung.
Since Putin's victory is no longer in doubt, the media has turned to analyzing the tasks that Putin will face in the next six years. The Spanish newspaper Vanguardia notes that in the next six years in power, Putin will need to solve many tasks.
Vanguardia writes: "Internal issues - continuing to fight poverty and improving the economy after the crisis, and external issues with Western countries."
However, the newspaper noted, Vladimir Putin also has a necessary problem - "finding a successor, because it is very likely that 2024 will be the last year that Mr. Putin is in power."
The press writes that "opposition politicians criticize that the position of head of state has been occupied by one person for many years, and at the same time experts agree that, therefore, it will be difficult for Vladimir Putin to find a person or formula that, after his departure, will help support the unified political system."
Western media also claimed that Mr Putin had become president again at a time when relations with the West had deteriorated significantly. Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper noted that "the election took place amid increasing tensions in relations with the West".
