Russia declares SPD-affiliated foundation undesirable
Published: Monday, Mar 4th 2024, 23:41
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The Russian Ministry of Justice has declared the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation to be an undesirable organization. The German Association for East European Studies was also blacklisted in Moscow on Monday, which means it is banned from operating in Russia. Also affected are XZ gGmbh, founded by Russian journalists in exile in Germany, and OWEN - Mobile Academy for Gender Democracy and Peacebuilding, as reported by the Tass agency.
Shortly after the attack on Ukraine in 2022, the Russian government banned the political education work of the party-affiliated German foundations of the SPD, CDU, Greens and FDP in Russia and withdrew the registration of their offices in Moscow. However, only the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is close to the Greens, has so far been declared an undesirable organization.
According to a Russian law from 2015, the undesirable organizations must cease their activities in Russia, accounts and any property are blocked and their representations are closed, as the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) in Berlin explains. Russian citizens risk criminal prosecution if they come into contact with these organizations. The Russian Ministry of Justice's register currently includes almost 150 organizations from Germany, the USA and other countries. The pressure on Russian civil society and its foreign contacts has intensified once again since the start of the war.
In addition to non-governmental organizations critical of the Kremlin, scientific institutions are also increasingly being branded as undesirable. These include the German Association for East European Studies (DGO). It publishes the monthly journal "Osteuropa" in Berlin as the leading German organ for politics and contemporary history in Eastern Europe.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish