ENEMO after Moscow's ban: We are the target for monitoring the elections in the sphere of Russian interest

The Secretary General of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), Zlatko Vujovic, told Radio Free Europe that the decision of the Russian prosecutor's office to declare the activities of this international non-governmental organization as undesirable was surprising, since ENEMO has not had an election observation mission in Russia.

In the explanation of the decision, the Russian prosecutor's office stated that the activities of ENEMO represent a "threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation."

A statement from the Prosecutor's Office on September 27, transmitted by Interfax, states that the Information on the decision was forwarded to the Russian Ministry of Justice for inclusion in the list of foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities were recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation.

ENEMO targeted for election monitoring in 'Russian spheres of influence'

Zlatko Vujović suspects that this decision was made due to the activities of ENEMO in the countries of the former Soviet bloc and in the Western Balkans.

"These are countries that are considered Russia's sphere of influence. We are monitoring the elections in Ukraine, Moldova, now we have a mission in Georgia, We have been monitoring the elections in Armenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania ... These are all countries that are very interesting for Russian foreign policy and our activities are probably recognized as disruptive for the official Kremlin ", states Vujović.

ENEMO was founded in 2001 and brings together 23 non-profit, non-partisan and non-governmental organizations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including three European Union countries. As the main activity, this NGO cites the assessment of the electoral process and political space through the deployment of international election observation missions.

ENEMO is already the third organization to be declared undesirable in the Russian Federation in recent days. On September 24, the prosecution added two more Scientology organizations to the list of undesirables.

The ban is also possible in Belarus and other countries

Assessing that the decision of the Prosecutor's Office of Russia to ban the work of ENEMO is a blow to civil society, human rights and democracy, Vujović insists that a similar measure could soon be introduced by Belarus, having in mind the harmonization of official Minsk and Moscow policies.

"In Belarus, we have partner organizations that have problems, they are exposed to harassment, violence, arrests ... We are afraid that the Belarusian authorities will act like Russia because their ties are close and the policies are quite coordinated. We are afraid that a similar scenario could happen in other countries where Russia's influence is quite strong ", says Vujović.

According to the NGO's official website, ENEMO is located in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Bans launched after adoption of Law on "Foreign Agents"

The European Union has repeatedly called on Russia to repeal the controversial law on "foreign agents", which is used to target an increasing number of Russian-language media, including Radio Free Europe. The so-called Russian law on "foreign agents" was adopted in 2012 and has been amended several times.

It requires registration of non-governmental organizations that receive assistance from abroad and that the government considers to be engaged in political activities, and to identify themselves as "foreign agents" and undergo audits.

Subsequent amendments to the law are aimed at foreign-funded media, including the Russian service RSE, as well as six other services in English and Current Time.