VOA常速英语2007年-Putin Says Washington Seeks to Discredit Russia

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
26 November 2007

President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of manipulating the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to discredit¹ upcoming Russian Parliamentary elections. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has details from Moscow.

Responding to a question from a youth leadership group in Saint Petersburg, President Putin accused the United States of influencing the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe not to send observers to monitor Russia's parliamentary election on Sunday.

The Kremlin leader says information available to Russian authorities indicates the U.S. State Department recommended to the OSCE not to monitor Sunday's vote. Mr. Putin says this represents an attempt to discredit the election. He adds that Russia will factor the alleged² move into its relations with the United States.

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw is responsible for monitoring elections of the organization's 56-member nations.

An statement issued by the group in Warsaw on November 16 said attempts to obtain Russian entry visas for election monitors were repeatedly denied. In remarks to the VOA, the group's spokeswoman, Urdur Gunnarsdottir, expressed regret over the situation.

"We do not not take our orders from the State Department. We have the same connection with foreign ministries³ of all 56 states. We communicate with them; they are our main interlocutors in every country. We take our orders from all 56, not from one state," said Gunnarsdottir.

Gunnarsdottir said earlier that monitoring involves pre-election observations of campaigns and media access, and that time had run out to do this in a meaningful way.

Andrei Kortunov of Moscow's New Eurasia Foundation research group told VOA that Russia has turned criticism of the United States into a tradition.

Kortunov says President Putin's reaction to the OSCE decision indicates his concern that Russian elections be seen as legitimate⁴.

The political analyst⁵ notes that U.S.-Russian relations are already so frosty that Mr. Putin's charge is not likely to further damage them. Kortunov adds that Russia is counting on improved ties with Washington following the U.S. presidential election next year.

Russia invited 70 OSCE monitors to observe its December 2nd balloting⁶, compared to 400 in the previous vote in 2003. All OSCE member states, including Russia, are party to a 1990 agreement to invite international election monitors.

Other foreign experts are scheduled to observe Sunday's Russian election, but without the OSCE there will be fewer overall.

1 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

4 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句