Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Limiting outside influence

United Russia acts to gain more control over political activity within Russia.

Russia plans to register 'foreign agent' NGOs

Russian NGOs that receive funding from abroad will have to register as "foreign agents" and undergo extra checks under a new bill that critics warn is part of a crackdown on independent activists.

The bill, backed by the ruling United Russia party, would require foreign-funded NGOs involved in political activities to tag all publications and websites with the label "foreign agent"…

A video in support of the bill says: "You have the right to know who is trying to influence your opinion. Our country must have an opposition, but if it is protecting foreign interests, you have the right to know that."…

Many of Russia's most prominent NGOs, including the corruption watchdog Transparency International, the election monitor Golos and the environmental group Greenpeace Russia, rely on foreign grants to operate in a country where the government often views them as enemies…

Supporters of the law have likened it to similar legislation in the US that requires lobbyists employed by foreign governments to reveal their financing. Critics worry that it could be applied selectively in a country lacking rule of law…

[Opponents] said finding sponsors among wealthy individuals or businesses inside Russia had become impossible since the arrest of the former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003, which was partly seen as punishment for his funding of opposition and democracy activists.

A source inside the Kremlin said on Sunday that about 1,000 of the 230,000 NGOs operating in Russia were likely to fall under the restrictions…