The European Union on Thursday condemned Russian authorities’ recent clampdown on independent media and civil society organizations.
The Kremlin silencing dissent and opposition “is particularly worrisome ahead of the State Duma elections in September,” an EU spokesperson said late Thursday.
“The European Union stands in solidarity with Russian civil society, human rights defenders and independent journalists and will continue to support them in their important work,” said Nabila Massrali, a spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs envoy Josep Borrell.
In a statement about Russia’s “continued crackdown” on dissent, Massrali noted that Russia’s labeling of several NGOs and media outlets as “undesirable organizations” and “foreign agents” forced them to cease working.
The EU criticized Russia’s decision to classify the Institute of Law and Public Policy (ILPP) think tank and several journalists as foreign agents and to declare the Project Media outlet an undesirable organization.
