Moscow -- Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland on Nov. 28 expressed anxiety at a Russian law prescribing a mandatory "foreign agent" status for Russian foreign-financed nongovernmental organizations that engage in politics.
This law is a source of worry for Russian civil society with many of the organizations labeled as “foreign agents” and feeling they are under pressure, especially at local and regional level, Jagland said during a meeting in Moscow with State Duma chairman Sergei Naryshkin.
NGOs’ funding and activities must unquestionably be transparent, Jagland said. However, labels such as “foreign agent” must be consigned to the past and are unacceptable in modern Europe, he said.
He also said the “foreign agents” law endangers one of the Council of Europe’s important fields of work – political studies schools financed by the council. If such a school is set up in Russia, it may be declared a ‘foreign agent,” he said. According to Jagland, this is an example of what he saw as the illogicality of the “foreign agents” law and shows what problems it might give rise to.
At the same time, Jagland praised Russia for taking part in all activities of the Council of Europe, credited the country with sharing European values, and mentioned that Russia is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said he believed it was important for Russia and the West to maintain dialogue in the current hard times and pointed out that the Council of Europe is the place where such a dialogue is taking place.
