MINSK, 26 October (BelTA) – Plans are in place to develop a model law regulating the financing of NGOs in the Union State, Chairman of the Security and Defense Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives Oleg Belokonev told the media, BelTA has learned.
A meeting of the PA Security and Defense Commission was held in Minsk and Moscow on 26 October. Representatives of the Standing Committee of the Union State, ministries and departments of Belarus and Russia were invited to attend. Among the items on the agenda was the legislative regulation of activities to counter foreign interference through non-profit organizations funded from abroad.
"Not only the Republic of Belarus but also all the countries of the post-Soviet space faced such NGOs. Everywhere, these organizations, which are financed from abroad, carry out certain illegal activities. Belarus has done a big job in this avenue, and continues to work on this today. About 100 such organizations were stopped or banned from operating in Belarus last year," Oleg Belokonev said. “There is a nuance: we prohibit their activities on the territory of the country, but they continue it on the internet. We can't close it there today. Such organizations are funded by the Soros Foundation and other organizations. Russia is also faced with this issue.”
Now this issue is discussed at the level of the Union State. "One of the proposals is to make a model law that will take into account all the specificities of the two legislations and that will help us make up for some gaps," the MP added.
