The Federation Council Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty has proposed to prohibit individuals recognized as foreign agents from holding positions in state and municipal bodies.

As the head of the commission, Andrei Klimov, specified, it is proposed to introduce into the electoral legislation the concepts “a candidate performing the functions of a foreign agent” and “a candidate affiliated with a person performing the functions of a foreign agent”.

“This is done so that our voters at the elections have a more complete idea of ​​whose interests this or that candidate for elective posts may act in the future,” the senator explained.

Along with this, the commission proposes to recognize as foreign agents individuals who participate in political activities in the Russian Federation or purposefully collect information in the military sphere for funds from foreign sources.

At the same time, the commission proposes to clarify the signs of classifying individuals as foreign agents requiring established registration on the territory of the Russian Federation.

“Among such signs it is necessary to include participation in political activities in Russia or the purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, such activities should be associated with foreign influence, that is, receiving funds, other property benefits, including through intermediaries, as well as receiving any types of organizational and methodological assistance from foreign sources, ”the senator said.

Recall that in December 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that allows the recognition of an individual as a foreign agent.

The provisions of the law indicate that “an individual or a Russian legal entity disseminating messages and materials that are created and distributed by a foreign media performing the functions of a foreign agent, or a Russian legal entity established by a foreign media foreign agent, and (or) participating in the creation of these messages and materials can be recognized as performing the functions of a foreign agent ”.

As explained earlier in the State Duma, in order to obtain such a status, a person must meet two criteria: to participate in the creation and (or) dissemination of messages and media materials already recognized as a foreign agent, and also to receive funding from abroad.

The deputies stressed that these rules will not apply to bloggers and publicists.

At the same time, the status of a foreign agent does not provide for any restrictions on activities, however, some requirements are still provided.

So, it is necessary to accompany all publications with the appropriate stamp that they were created by a foreign agent, once a year submit to the Ministry of Justice a report on where funds received from abroad are spent, and publish a publicly available report on their work every six months.

Position of the President of Russia

In March 2020, Putin explained that the legislation on foreign agents does not infringe on anyone, but protects Russia from outside interference in its political life.

“

What is the

purpose of this law (on foreign agents. -

RT

)?

Protect Russia from outside interference in its political life, "Putin said in an interview with TASS for the" 20 Questions to Vladimir Putin "project.

The Russian leader noted that Russia does not prohibit the activities of non-profit organizations with foreign funding on its territory, as is done in some states.

"Only if they receive funding from abroad and are engaged in internal political activities, they should say so," Putin added.

He clarified that there is nothing prejudicial in this.

At the same time, in December 2019, Putin called for avoiding broad interpretation of the law on foreign agents.

The President mentioned this during a big press conference.

“The law enforcement practice of this law has shown that there are things that need to be addressed and improved so that there is no broad interpretation.

This is the most important thing, because anything can be summed up under internal political activity ... This cannot be allowed, ”he said.

The head of state called the purpose of the law to prevent interference in internal affairs.

He stressed that every state is making efforts to prevent such activity.

“Our law is aimed exactly at this.

If you receive money from abroad from foreign sources in order to carry out internal political work, then just say so, ”Putin said.