“The banning of one or several [non-governmental] organizations, obviously, doesn’t mean any type of limitations on access for Russian citizens to democratic values,” Peskov told journalists.
He said that Russia had a large number of non-governmental and social organizations throughout the country.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office officially deemed the US National Endowment for Democracy as “undesirable” in Russia.
The Washington-based foundation is the first foreign organization to be recognized as undesirable in Russia. The decision will now be passed to the Justice Ministry so that the organization is officially filed in the “undesirable category.”
The National Endowment for Democracy is a US non-profit organization funded primarily through annual grants from Congress.
In July 2012, a law was passed in Russia requiring NGOs engaged in political activity and receiving funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents" and label their publications as such. The law came into force November 2012.
Commenting on the law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was needed to limit direct and indirect foreign interference and lobbying in the country.
