The recent request by the Federation Council to the Prosecutor General’s Office to consider 12 reputed NGOs as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation will, if implemented, further isolate civil society and disrupt its legitimate work.
The law on “undesirable NGOs” as well as the “foreign agents” law and restrictions on foreign media ownership are already crippling civil society and restricting the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Russia. In practice, the law on “undesirable NGOs” bars internationally recognised NGOs from working for and with Russian citizens and civil society and prohibits the participation of Russian citizens in their activities.
The EU calls on the Russian authorities not to proceed with the implementation of this law, which would violate Russia’s international human rights obligations in the UN, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.