Russian lawmakers on Friday backed legislation that could further restrict the work of international organisations in the country by tagging them as "undesirable" for the state. Voting in the second of three readings, the Duma lower house of parliament supported a bill to label some foreign non-governmental organisations as carrying out "undesirable activities".
The legislation could limit the work of international NGOs, already caught up in the Kremlin's clampdown on civil society during Vladimir Putin's third presidential term. In 2012 Russia adopted a controversial law to label organisations that receive funding from abroad as "foreign agents." Critics of the latest bill said that its vague wording could also harm commercial companies doing business in Russia and could be arbitrarily handed out, bypassing any court.
The bill will be reviewed at its final reading next week in what is only a technical vote, MP Dmitry Gudkov - one of just three lawmakers who voted against the measure - wrote on Twitter. Any organisation that "is a threat to Russia's constitutional foundations, defence capabilities or security" could be marked as undesirable, according to the text of the law. In a note explaining the legislation, lawmakers talked of the need to stop "destructive organisations" from working in Russia, where they could threaten "basic values of the Russian state" and foment "colour revolutions" - a term of Russian officials for regime change brought on by protests such as in Ukraine. Russia has pursued increasingly isolationist policies as its relations with the West tumbled to a post-Soviet low over the conflict in Ukraine, and several international NGOs and foreign organisations have already stopped working in the country.