In 2019, the US National Endowment for Democracy * (NED) allocated about $ 1 million for projects in Russia. Most of the expenses related to the support of activists and programs supposedly aimed at the development of civil society in the country. In addition, the fund actively provided grants to “educate” young people about the de-Stalinization and “consequences of political repression,” and also supported “independent media.” The names of organizations that received funding are not disclosed in the project description.
The National Endowment for Democracy is a nonprofit organization based in Washington. Since 1983, the US Congress annually allocates funds for the organization’s work in the form of grants awarded by the State Department. As indicated in the fund itself, the main goal of NED is to contribute to the "development and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world" through various activities aimed at supporting "freedom and human rights."
In 2015, the activities of the fund were recognized by the Prosecutor General of Russia as undesirable in the country. He became the first of 15 organizations to receive such a status in the Russian Federation. According to the Prosecutor General, in 2013-2014, NED used controlled Russian commercial and non-profit organizations, participated in the recognition of the election results as illegitimate, the organization of political actions in order to influence decisions taken by the authorities, as well as to discredit the service in the Russian Armed Forces. About $ 5.2 million was spent on these needs, the department said.
Meanwhile, as indicated in the grants database of the American Foundation, since 2016, the organization spent more than $ 21 million on projects in Russia.
Activism "at the local level"
Most of the projects in Russia in 2019, according to the fund, were aimed at the development of civil society (about $ 650 thousand). In particular, $ 138 thousand was spent on “activist protection”, which includes monitoring and “independent” trial investigations.
Meanwhile, the American fund allocated $ 111 thousand to develop the "potential" of Russian activists. As indicated in the grant description, the project concerns political processes in Russia, and the money itself was used to support public activists "in their work to solve systemic problems at the local level" .
“This project will also help civic organizations and individual activists to develop their potential to better ensure the interests of the population in their communities through information and awareness-raising campaigns,” the project description of the National Endowment for Democracy says.
Another grant ($ 35 thousand) relating to “local leaders of civil society organizations” was aimed at creating a platform for developing “democratic solutions” to local conflicts.
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Nearly $ 58 thousand. NED allocated for the organization of social events and various educational programs aimed at promoting "democratic values."
As a separate project, there is an initiative to empower activists to educate Russian youth about human rights, including civil rights. For this, $ 84 thousand was allocated from the US budget.
They took care of the fund and the support of the Russian "democratic activism in difficult conditions." For these purposes, NED sent $ 175 thousand.
“Measures will be identified and encouraged to strengthen the digital security of civil society organizations and improve their digital communication methods, with particular attention to creating content for social networks and websites, as well as data management,” the project description says.
In support of "independent" sources of information
This year, the National Endowment for Democracy spent nearly $ 183 thousand to support “independent media” in Russia.
So, a grant of $ 39.6 thousand was given to an unknown organization so that it “served as a source” of independent information.
“In order to serve as a source of independent news and analytical materials for the general public about significant events taking place in the social, political and human rights spheres of the country, and to facilitate open discussion and debate on important issues of civil society activity,” the grant describes.
It is noted that materials “related to the development of democratic norms and competition policy” will be produced and published on the Internet.
A grant was also allocated to an unknown organization to promote an “independent assessment” of significant political processes and social changes. $ 55.5 thousand were transferred to such publications.
For the purposes of another project ($ 51 thousand), among other things, it means "increasing the availability of investigative journalism on topics related to Russia and the Baltic region." The content itself, according to the grant, is designed for a Russian-speaking audience.
In the description of the project, entitled “Independent News and Analysis” ($ 36.4 thousand), the emergence of a “new generation” of analytical journalists is indicated as the main goal.
“Analytical materials and comments will be published on the Internet, and the development of a new generation of Russian analytical journalists will also be provided,” says the project, which received funding from the fund.
Promotion of historical discussions
Not ignored the American fund and the history of Russia. About $ 56 thousand was spent on a project dedicated to "human rights and historical memory." According to the description of the grant, these funds were aimed at raising awareness of the problems of civil society and "improving the understanding of society of the role of political repression in history and modern society."
Within the framework of the project, work was carried out to develop online information resources and "expand public access to historical information."
Another grant of $ 35.7 thousand was allocated to “encourage” discussions about de-Stalinization among teachers and young people.
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“To educate and encourage discussions among youth and teachers about de-Stalinization, the consequences of political repressions and other human rights violations that occurred in the past, their relevance today. Seminars will be held for educators and activists on methods and approaches for teaching young people the history of human rights and relevant issues related to this topic, ”the grant description says.
As political analyst Oleg Matveychev noted in a conversation with RT, in fact, the grants disclosed in the fund’s database are only part of the projects, and in the end, it is possible to anticipate amounts significantly exceeding $ 1 million. In addition, the expert stressed, NED is far from the only organization. involved in sponsoring such activities in Russia.
“In fact, hundreds of such projects are launched. Not only on the territory of Russia, but also on the territory of Ukraine and the Baltic states, from where broadcasting to Russia then comes. With all these words about democratization and the growth of competitiveness in politics, they cover up trivial interference in internal affairs. All these stories of repression are told to denigrate Russia and undermine national identity. This is a kind of soft power for interfering in internal affairs and for information sabotage against the people, a weapon of information war, ”the political scientist concluded.
The fight against Russian influence
It is worth noting that, financing various projects in Russia, the American fund is simultaneously actively fighting Russian influence in the world. According to the NED report for 2017, which was published only on April 12 of this year, in 2017, together with the Forum 2000 organization located in Prague, the National Endowment for Democracy helped organize a meeting of leading writers and activists from around the world. At the meeting, the group approved a statement that called the “reviving despotic regimes” of Russia and China as the main threat to democracy.
In particular, the fund’s achievements for 2017 include the “protection” of the information space in Europe and Eurasia from Russia. It is also indicated that thanks to the report of the International Forum for Democratic Studies (which was conducted by NED), the term “acute force” appeared in relation to Russia and China, as the main goals of Moscow and Beijing are supposedly to “break through, penetrate the political and information environment and penetrate into it target countries. " This term, emphasize in the fund, has become widely used by a number of media.
In addition, it is indicated that since 2015, the fund began to actively support organizations and structures throughout Europe in the fight against “Russian misinformation”. Also in 2017, NED allocated $ 1.5 million for projects in Europe to support the media and investigative journalism involved in the creation, publication and "strengthening of significance" of content about the "Kremlin misinformation."
US Financing
The National Endowment for Democracy also provides financial support to organizations deemed undesirable in Russia. So, in the last of the available NED tax documents for 2016 (or the 2017 financial year, which lasted from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017), the fund transferred $ 46 thousand to the Institute of Modern Russia ** Pavel Khodorkovsky. NCO was registered in the USA.
In the same year, NED allocated $ 252 thousand to the Free Russia Foundation ***. In June of this year, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included the Free Russia Foundation in the list of foreign non-governmental organizations whose activities were recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation.
As indicated in the tax documentation of the fund, the organization "provides support to the Russian pro-democratic political opposition and civil society, as well as coordinates Russian diasporas abroad and informs policy makers in the US and the EU about events taking place in Russia."
Meanwhile, as Pavel Danilin, director of the Center for Political Analysis, recalled in an interview with RT, NED is only one of the operators through which Washington finances projects aimed at "supporting democracy."
“In reality, there are a lot of resources that are aimed at undermining the situation in Russia, at destabilization, at the destruction of our historical memory, or at its substitution. This is a direct intervention, the very one in which the Americans constantly blame us. In reality, this intervention occurs in exactly this way. They form an alternative story for us, their heroes, form the opposition with which we must live, grow it, give it money, ”the expert summed up.
* “The National Endowment for Democracy” is an organization whose activity is deemed undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of July 28, 2015.
** Institute of Modern Russia (Institute of Modern Russia) - an organization whose activity is deemed undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of 04/26/2017.
*** The Free Russia Foundation is an organization whose activity is deemed undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of 06/27/2019.