Grant policy should counterbalance ‘foreign agents’ – Russian human rights ombudsman

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) – Russian human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova called for the streamlining of grant policies in Russia to support socially-oriented organizations.

“[It is necessary] to change or improve grant policies, it is significantly important for counterbalancing these developments which resulted in so-called ‘foreign agents’,” she said at an Open Tribune meeting on issues of civil society development in Russia.

She said she agreed with the opinion that an inaccurate title, ‘foreign agents’, has resulted in the closing down of a whole range of useful social organizations.

“We must agree that it is necessary for the development of civil society institutions to support the efforts of socially-oriented business,” she said.