The Russian Foreign Ministry splashed gasoline in the ITU elections
PA President “VimpelCom“ Rashid Ismailov, who is one of the two participants in the discussion for the post of ITU General, arrived in the capital of many countries without any problems. His rival for the highest elected position in ITU is the US representative Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who since January 2019 has been the director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau of the UN specialized agency for telecommunications. The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, which takes place every four years, takes place from September 26 to October 14, 2022 in Bucharest (Romania).
https://www.comnews.ru/content/214069/2021-04-13/2021-w15/rossiya-i-ssh…
On the evening of Friday, September 23, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova published
Maria Zakharova did not limit herself to a statement of fact and a significant commentary, but returns: “It is obvious that Bucharest is becoming an obstacle to fair competition. The political order of Washington is being carried out, which is being promoted by the Director of the ITU Development Bureau, Doreen Bogdan-Martin. The American is already shamelessly using the administrative resource to promote her candidacy. Now, as a rule, there is a representative of the Joe Biden administration, who recently issued a call for justice. <…> The purpose of this unfair competition is to prevent the election of Russian candidate Rashida Ismailova, a program aimed at democratically addressing the problems of technological development with an emphasis on overcoming “automatic break“ between the West and the experienced world. There is a trifle of such results – after all, our delegates, who have the right to enter, claim to organize election events in support of Rashid Ismailov“.
Maria Zakharova’s commentary ends with the following passage: “The focus on Washington’s actions and the interests of its interests in Bucharest is not suspicious – the next conditions for the victory of the American candidate, who will promote Western installations in the ITU to the detriment of users of the rest of the world. This is primarily about such functions as the regulation of the use of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, the introduction of new devices and the development of the communications industry. As a result of the Russophobic, neo-colonial interests-driven actions of the United States and its allies to ensure compliance and stable operation of virtually all modern means of communication on the planet“.
According to ComNews, 14 Russians, the identification of a visa annulled the representative of representative power in Moscow, the number of representatives of the Russian delegation with technical functions decreased (first of all, they had to engage in attracting representatives on behalf of Russia). The Russian, who worked for ITU for many years, believes that this action is unpleasant, but uncritical. The Russian Foreign Ministry could have a more damaging effect on voting results. “Maria Zakharova unexpectedly went beyond the scope of political correctness. For example, her passage that if Doreen Bogdan-Martin is elected “will push Western installations into ITU“. Everyone knows that the highest tendencies of the ITU are supranational figures and do not lobby the interests of the country that put them forward. If we follow the same logic, it turns out that Rashid Ismailov will “push“ installations of Russia or the current ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao the interest of China’s interests“. According to this source, it is the Foreign Ministry’s comment that may be the reason why the hesitant countries will not take the side of Russia.
In an interview with the ComNews portal on the eve of his departure to Bucharest, Rashid Ismailov confirmed that the number of countries making decisions on candidates for elective posts already during the Plenipotentiary Conference is large. “I remember how I was the head of the delegation at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, when Nikolay Nikiforov was the Minister of Previous Development of Russia (in 2014 – approx. ComNews). Many countries on the eve of the conference do not give a clear answer about who they will vote for. He clarified that there was not a single specified number of exceptions in the delegation of the number of countries.
Rashid Ismailov also said: “This is an exceptional election for a happy moment – after February 24th. Rashid Ismailov added that the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation does not give an unequivocal answer about how many countries confirmed their support for his candidacy, limiting themselves to the fact that their number is large.
Elections in the ITU are natural on the principle of “one country – one vote”, regardless of the size of the state. ITU has 193 countries, but not all of them can send a delegation to a full conference (mainly due to observations, but sometimes due to epidemics). For example, before the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2014, which took place in Busan (South Korea), 168 national delegations took place, and three more delegated powers to others in good time (Iceland – Denmark, Malta – the Netherlands, Republic of Guinea – Mali).
https://www.comnews.ru/content/88241/2014-10-27/houlin-vmesto-hamaduna