The European Union is concerned by the fact that another independent political party, the Party of People's Freedom known as PARNAS, was denied registration in Russia, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Wednesday.
This is one in a series of similar cases in recent years, the EU said in a statement.
"The difficulties faced by political parties in registering for elections effectively constrain political competition in Russia, reduce the choice available to its electorate and show that there are real obstacles to political pluralism in the country," Ashton said.
Russian opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Milov, Vladimir Ryzhkov and Mikhail Kasyanov announced the party's foundation in 2010 and said it would announce its presidential candidate in the summer of 2011.
Nemtsov said the denial of registration was a "political" decision that had no basis in law.
The Russian Justice Ministry said the party's statute "contains provisions that are in conflict with the law on political parties and other federal laws."
In particular, the statute makes no provisions for the rotation of ruling board members, the ministry said.
It also said a check revealed that party documents showed some of its members were dead before the constituent congress on December 13, 2010, or were underage or could not be found at the addresses indicated in the documents.
The EU said "the cumbersome registration procedures in Russia have been criticized in the April 12 ruling of the European Court of Human Rights," adding that political pluralism was a cornerstone of democracy and modern society, as well as a source of political legitimacy.
U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said her country was disappointed by the Justice Ministry’s refusal to register the party and called on the Russian government to investigate the incident.
“We urge the authorities to investigate the reports of irregularities in the PARNAS registration process to ensure that the procedures used to deny registration of this party were consistent with Russian laws and international standards,” she said in a statement.
