“Under strict control”: The State Duma has put foreign agents under tight control
The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted today in the first reading the bill “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence.”
According to the bill, persons who receive foreign support or are under foreign influence and are engaged in political activities or purposefully collect information in the field of military-technical activities of Russia can be included in the register maintained by the Ministry of Justice, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
They want to impose additional restrictions on foreign agents. A person recognized as a foreign agent will not be able to enter the state civil service or become a member of an election commission or referendum commission. A foreign agent will not have the right to promote candidates in elections, organize public events or finance them.
This status will not allow conducting teaching, educational, educational activities regarding children, organizing public events, or producing information products for them. In addition, the possibility of receiving government financial support and applying a simplified taxation system will be closed. The status may become a basis for refusal of access to state secrets.
“Today, NATO countries, especially Anglo-Saxon ones, with their intelligence activities regarding the Russian Federation, place the main emphasis not on generally accepted agents who obtain some military secrets, but are trying to destroy our country from the inside by organizing and financing a fifth column. A huge number of our journalists, political scientists, managers, and deputies at all levels have undergone special training in the UK. I have already stated what tasks are set for them and what papers they sign,” said First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Andrei Lugovoy, who presented the bill.
He emphasized that the Russian bill is much more liberal than a similar law in the UK. The deputy believes that the West can influence Russian officials through their relatives studying or working abroad.
“These individuals are unlikely to fall into the category of foreign agents unless they meet other criteria (engaged in political activities, collecting information regarding the armed forces, disseminating information). If a government official is involved in this, then the presence of his relatives abroad is one of the forms of influence on this official,” Lugovoi said.
According to him, even distant relatives of Russian officials, when receiving a visa, are asked to fill out special forms that differ from the usual ones.
“I think this is one of the forms of preparation for the reception of such a citizen, even in a friendly state. NATO intelligence services work through countries that do not formally belong to them. These are the Arab states and Türkiye,” Lugovoi said.
The bill was supported by United Russia representative Adalbi Shkhagoshev.
“All these years we hoped that the West did this because we allowed it, and we counted on normal interaction with these countries. Over the past three months, we have clearly seen that there is no interaction. They have only one goal - these are people who deal with the internal affairs of the Russian Federation for money. Naturally, from now on all such organizations will be under strict control. The External Intervention Commission dealt with this. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of materials. We implored each of these organizations to build a dialogue. They didn’t want to, they didn’t go,” said Shkhagoshev.
A Just Russia representative, Dmitry Gusev, believes that sanctions against foreign agents should become even tougher.
“They should not receive money from the state in the form of salaries in organizations with state participation and in the form of various grants. Because some TV presenters on state channels... Or a cowardы, or a cross. Or you work in a state-owned company, but then you don’t criticize the giving hand. Or criticize, but then don’t take the money,” Gusev said.
The bill was opposed by factions of the parties “New People” and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Deputy Ksenia Goryacheva is worried about people who received an education or a degree abroad. And communist Yuri Sinelshchikov fears that now his comrades will be eliminated from politics with the help of a new law.
“Thus, now there is no need to organize special operations to identify foreign accounts, as was the case with Grudinin. Or carry out a cumbersome special operation “moose hunt”, as was the case with Rashkin. It is enough to transfer an unnoticed amount of money to the account of such a politician, which will then be discovered by the Ministry of Justice and the politician is no longer a politician,” Sinelshchikov provoked.
Lugovoi responded to critics of the bill.
“When it comes to betrayal of the Motherland, I hear exclusively positive notes in the words “total state control.” I consider attempts to criticize the bill unconstructive in the current political conditions, and otherwise an ordinary betrayal,” he emphasized.
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