Moscow Declares Three US NGOs “Undesirable”

From Radio Free Europe:

Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy and delivered a stern warning for Washington to stay out of Russia’s internal affairs ahead of a presidential election widely expected to hand incumbent Vladimir Putin another term in office given the absence of opposition candidates on the ballot.  The ministry informed Tracy on March 7 that three U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) — American Councils for International Education, Cultural Perspectives, and the Institute of International Education — had been labeled “undesirable organizations” and demanded the embassy “stop any collaboration” with them.

The ministry accused the NGOs of running “anti-Russian programs and projects aimed at recruiting ‘agents of influence’ under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges” and any further cooperation with the embassy “would be considered a violation of Russian law.”  The U.S. Embassy in Moscow blasted the Russian move, saying in a statement that it “marks a new low in the Russian government’s crackdown on long-standing and entirely routine people-to-people programs.”

Said the US Embassy, Moscow in response to the Russian demarche:

Today’s move to designate U.S. educational and exchange organizations as “undesirable” marks a new low in the Russian government’s crackdown on longstanding and entirely routine people-to-people programs.  The idea that it would be “undesirable” to connect Russians and Americans on a human level and facilitate travel for professional and educational development is a tragic illustration of the Kremlin’s desire to isolate its own people, depriving them of the chance to network, expand their horizons, and contribute to building a more prosperous and peaceful world. Free and open societies have nothing to fear from engagement with other nations and people.

darryll k. jones