France’s Sarkozy congratulates Putin on election win

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday congratulated Vladimir Putin following his reelection as Russian president and urged him to “continue democratic and economic modernisation.”

“I offer you all of my congratulations and all the best wishes for Russia and the Russian people,” Sarkozy wrote in a letter released by the Elysee late on Monday.

“As you prepare to assume the highest executive office in your country for a third time, I offer you my most sincere encouragement to continue the work of democratic and economic modernisation to which, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Russian people, you will want to devote your new mandate.”

Earlier French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe gave a cool reaction to Putin’s return to the Russian presidency, saying the election “was not exemplary” but accepting that his controversial victory was not in doubt.

“I take note that President Putin is our interlocutor for years to come,” Juppe told a news conference. “Overall, despite some criticism … the re-election of President Putin is not in doubt.”

“The election was not exemplary,” Juppe said, but “there was no brutal repression during the campaign, as might have been the case in other times.”

Putin secured almost 64 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, winning back the Russian presidency which he held for two terms from 2000 to 2008, but some of his rivals and several vote monitoring groups cried foul.

A report from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the conditions of the Russian campaign were “clearly skewed” in Putin’s favour.

“Some observers, notably the OSCE, have criticised the way the election was held,” Juppe said. “Concerning France, our aim is to develop the partnership that we have with Russia, an absolutely strategic partnership on every level.”

“We hope that Russian society will show restraint, that violence will be avoided, that the freedom to demonstrate will be respected,” Juppe said.

He voiced hope that “the idea that in a democracy you can be contested, you can be criticised, including in the street… will now also be an accepted idea in Russia.”