New York Times - 12.27.2005

New York Times

Russia's Anti-West Offensive

Editorial 

To no one's great surprise, Russia's Parliament voted overwhelmingly last week to increase control of charities, foundations and other nongovernmental organizations in Russia. The vote endorsed a slightly better version of the bill than the original one. Under pressure from the West, President Vladimir Putin dropped proposed rules that would have forced foreign groups to register as purely Russian groups. But they still will have to prove periodically that their work does not contravene Russian national, social or security interests. That is broad enough to make all unofficial groups permanently vulnerable to the Kremlin's whims.

Nobody denies a government's right to regulate nongovernmental organizations. But this law was written mostly to weaken Western support for democratic movements in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics. That was evident when Lyubov Sliska, one of Mr. Putin's many supporters in the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, snidely asked one of the bill's few critics, Vladimir Ryzhkov, what kind of passport he carried. A bill with this baggage is unfortunate for three reasons: it reflects the Soviet attitude that Ukrainians, for example, would not have supported Viktor Yushchenko had they not been incited by devious outside powers. Though some nongovernmental organizations are patronizing and meddlesome, most are doing genuinely good and useful work. And finally, Mr. Putin is popular and respected by his constituency, so he does not need to constantly expand the Kremlin's powers.

There is no stopping the bill. We can only hope that Mr. Putin and his bureaucrats do not adopt it as a weapon with which to attack perceived critics and opponents. Russia and the other former Soviet dominions need all the honest voices they can muster.