Russia Bans Romanian-American Democracy Organisation

The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a democracy aid organisation established in 2007 by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was declared 'undesirable' by the Russian government on Tuesday under a controversial law targeting alleged foreign political influence, together with several US non-governmental organisations.

According to a press release issued by the Russian Ministry of Justice, the Romanian-American NGO has been added to a "list of foreign and international non-governmental organisations who activities are considered undesirable in the Russian Federation".

The ministry said the ban was imposed under a Russian federal law which envisages measures against "persons involved in violations of the fundamental human rights and freedoms" of Russian citizens.

According to the ministry's press release, the Deputy Attorney-General signed the decision on June 30.

Black Sea Trust representatives told BIRN that the organisation was assessing the impact of the Russian decision and so they were not able to comment further.

According to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation was among the first projects dedicated to development in the Black Sea Region in the United States, set up in 2007 as new countries in the region joined NATO and the European Union.

According to the German Marshall Fund's website, the Black Sea Trust does not have any projects in Russia, and only funds initiatives in Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Black Sea Trust is funded by several US-based institutions and organisations such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ford...