Russia bans “foreign agents” from civil service

On Friday, September 20, Russian President Putin signed an amendment to the order that regulates who has the right to apply and be considered for a Russian state official position, according to the document, published on the government’s website. 

Now the so-called “foreign agent” status in Russia prevents an individual from taking the civil service. 

The “foreign agent” label was established in Russia in 2012 to be aimed at the NGOs that the government suspects of receiving funding from abroad. The application of the label in Russia intensified specifically after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which was seen by many experts as a means to suppress independent journalists, opposition and anti-war activists. 

“The (foreign agents) law is yet another attack on free expression and legitimate civic activism in Russia, and should be repealed,” The Human Rights Watch stated on its website earlier. 

“For more than a decade, Russian authorities have used ‘foreign agents’ laws to smear and punish independent voices,” Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch is quoted as saying.

Russian Ministry of Justice has been publishing a weekly “foreign agents” list with the names of individuals and organizations. Hundreds of them have already been labeled as such, including The Barents Observer journalist Georgy Chentemirov. 

In a vague statement, the Justice Ministry claimed back then, that Chentemirov “participated in the creation and dissemination of materials to an unlimited circle of people, he received support from foreign sources, and opposed the special military operation in Ukraine.”

Nowadays the content of the Justice Ministry’s list regularly includes not only journalists or activists, but also artists, comedians, musicians, and businessmen. 

The famous Russian and Soviet rock star Andrey Makarevich, who was designated as a “foreign agent”, compared the status to the yellow stars during the nazi regime in Germany, as the Russian news-website RTVI reported earlier. 

Russian journalist Dmitry Kolezev, who was also labeled as a “foreign agent”, expressed a similar concern: 

“The comparison with yellow stars no longer seems such an exaggeration. Will anyone be surprised if foreign agents are soon banned from engaging in entrepreneurial activity or receiving certain government services?.. Literally “second-class citizens”, Kolezev wrote in his Telegram channel.

Once an individual is included on the list, they are obliged to mark their social media posts with a “foreign agent” label. Being on the list also obliges people to send regular reports about their income to the Justice Ministry. 

Since 2012 the restrictive measures against “foreign agents” have expanded. For example, in May 2024 Russian Parliament banned “foreign agents” from participating in elections.

The new amendment signed by Putin today takes the restrictive measures even further. 

As a result of the implementation of the “foreign agent” laws, many NGOs, focusing on healthcare, human rights, and environmental protection are experiencing difficulties in Russia or have ceased their operations. 

Meanwhile, speaker of the Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin says: 

“We need to explain here that those who want to improve have a chance; they can get rid of the foreign agent status by rejecting the handouts and the noose that they have put on themselves with money from other countries,” Mr. Volodin is quoted as saying by the Russian news website Kommersant.