- 07 Jun 2018 06:45
#14922105
Lavrov emphasizes dialogue with foreign NGOs
The Russian Foreign Ministry feels that it important to step up dialogue between Russian and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) amid the current Russia-bashing hysteria and attempts to discredit the country’s domestic and foreign policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund in March, 2018.
"Today, we are all seeing the rising anti-Russian crusade and the ongoing drive to discredit Russia, its domestic and foreign policy," he said. “Under these conditions the work to bolster dialogue with the general public in order to bring the truth to our contacts with foreign colleagues acquires a new meaning."
"Depoliticized expert discussions and various educational projects definitely help sustain confidence and mutual understanding in international relations," Lavrov noted. He also highlighted the great contribution to these efforts by the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund that "has proved itself as a widely used tool to support activities of civil society in foreign policy."
NGOs are generally presented as independent entities forming one of the pillars of civil society. The U.S. and other Western governments openly fund NGOs in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, as well as other regions. Once a group relies on government funding – from its own country or from outside powers – it is no longer truly a part of civil society, but rather a government-sponsored entity that could be used as a vehicle for achieving political goals.
NGOs are sometimes used by governments and intelligence agencies to boost influence and further strategic goals. The Central Intelligence Agency covertly funded private organizations – in addition to newspapers and political parties – to help shape public opinion in Europe and Russia. When the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), one of America’s main vehicles for supporting NGOs abroad, was created in the 1980s, it was set up as a private-public partnership largely to shield the organization from meddling or accusations of intelligence agencies’ involvement.
The involvement of foreign NGOs (like USAID and NED) in funding pro-Western NGOs and democracy projects has created both fear and suspicion among some governments in the region that Western governments are attempting to instigate color revolutions – popular protest movements aimed at regime change. In countries like Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan strong efforts have been made to limit NGOs’ ability to operate and access foreign funding. Notably, in July 2015, NED became the first foreign organization banned in Russia under the Kremlin’s law against “undesirable” international NGOs. In 2018, Russia’s Ministry of Justice added to the list of “undesirable” three more non-governmental organizations – European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), International elections study center (IESC) and The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).
The Russian Foreign Ministry feels that it important to step up dialogue between Russian and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) amid the current Russia-bashing hysteria and attempts to discredit the country’s domestic and foreign policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund in March, 2018.
"Today, we are all seeing the rising anti-Russian crusade and the ongoing drive to discredit Russia, its domestic and foreign policy," he said. “Under these conditions the work to bolster dialogue with the general public in order to bring the truth to our contacts with foreign colleagues acquires a new meaning."
"Depoliticized expert discussions and various educational projects definitely help sustain confidence and mutual understanding in international relations," Lavrov noted. He also highlighted the great contribution to these efforts by the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund that "has proved itself as a widely used tool to support activities of civil society in foreign policy."
NGOs are generally presented as independent entities forming one of the pillars of civil society. The U.S. and other Western governments openly fund NGOs in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, as well as other regions. Once a group relies on government funding – from its own country or from outside powers – it is no longer truly a part of civil society, but rather a government-sponsored entity that could be used as a vehicle for achieving political goals.
NGOs are sometimes used by governments and intelligence agencies to boost influence and further strategic goals. The Central Intelligence Agency covertly funded private organizations – in addition to newspapers and political parties – to help shape public opinion in Europe and Russia. When the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), one of America’s main vehicles for supporting NGOs abroad, was created in the 1980s, it was set up as a private-public partnership largely to shield the organization from meddling or accusations of intelligence agencies’ involvement.
The involvement of foreign NGOs (like USAID and NED) in funding pro-Western NGOs and democracy projects has created both fear and suspicion among some governments in the region that Western governments are attempting to instigate color revolutions – popular protest movements aimed at regime change. In countries like Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan strong efforts have been made to limit NGOs’ ability to operate and access foreign funding. Notably, in July 2015, NED became the first foreign organization banned in Russia under the Kremlin’s law against “undesirable” international NGOs. In 2018, Russia’s Ministry of Justice added to the list of “undesirable” three more non-governmental organizations – European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), International elections study center (IESC) and The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).
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