The State Duma adopted a bill expanding the list of organizations that can be considered “undesirable,” said one of its authors, deputy Vasily Piskarev.
Not only foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) decided to be recognized as “undesirable”. It will now be possible to add organizations to the list whose founders or participants are other states, “with the exception of an international intergovernmental organization of which the Russian Federation is a member,” the bill says.
“It is necessary to exclude any possibility for foreign organizations to interfere in the internal affairs of our country. There are enough examples when structures associated with government agencies of the United States or European countries directly harm Russia and carry out subversive activities. The laws adopted today are aimed at increasing security and protecting sovereignty,” Piskarev wrote.
He did not specify what examples he was talking about. At the same time, the deputy recalled that organizing the activities of an “undesirable organization” could result in up to six years in prison.
Previously, the State Duma commission to investigate foreign interference explained that the development of anti-Russian sanctions, the “training of agents of influence,” “interference in elections in Russia,” and inciting national hatred pose a “threat to security.”