Talking Barents
Foreign agent or community builder? How to cooperate when organizations are foreign agents. Debate at Surf&Turf in Kirkenes on Wednesday November 25th.
The Russian foreign agent law was introduced in 2012, in order to ensure transparency.
The majority of organizations labeled foreign agent in the Barents Region were included in the first half of 2015.
Some organizations have ceased their activity either in full or in part, often through "self-liquidation", because the label requires additional administrational resources.
According to the Russian authorities, organizations can continue working just as before, but the public has a right to know who funds activities of the civil society within the Russian Federation.
We ask which consequences the foreign agent law could have on the Barents cooperation.
Moderator: Ida Gullvik (NRK)
Anna Kireeva, Bellona
Valentina Likhoshva, Maximum
Tatiana Egorova, Working Group of Indigenous Peoples
Igor K. Lapitskiy, Consulate, The Russian Federation to Kirkenes (TBC)
Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General, Norwegian Helsinki Committee