BRUSSELS: The European Union is keeping any doubts over the fairness of Russia’s March 2 election to itself to avoid needlessly antagonising its large neighbour at a delicate time in their ties, analysts and diplomats say.

Usually swift to chide democratic failings around the world, the 27-member bloc does not want to exacerbate relations with its biggest energy supplier, and believes Moscow would in any case shrug off any criticism about its staging of the poll.

“There is a sense that whatever we say it will not make any difference,” said Katinka Barysch of the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank.

“We need to have a functioning relationship with the leadership, old or new... We don’t want to antagonise them too much.”

Europe’s main election watchdog said on Wednesday it would refuse to monitor the vote, in which President Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev is streets ahead of rivals, unless Moscow eased restrictions on its observers.

That came at the end of a week in which Medvedev — the beneficiary of blanket coverage from state media — refused to hold television debates with rivals and former prime minister and Kremlin critic Mikhail Kasyanov was barred from running.

Europe’s leaders have been strikingly silent, with only EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer making cautious statements that they hoped the election could be observed according to usual rules.

That will not cut much ice with the Kremlin, with Putin on Wednesday putting Russia’s state security service on guard against “attempts to interfere in our domestic affairs”.

“You could say the silence is deafening,” said a senior EU diplomat.

Putin, popular for restoring some form of order after the turbulence of the immediate post-Soviet years, has said he plans to retain influence in Russia after stepping down in line with a constitution forbidding three consecutive terms. The call by the EU and Washington for an investigation into reports of irregularities in the December parliamentary election fell largely on deaf ears in Russia.—Reuters