Russia declares European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations ‘undesirable’

The Russian Attorney General’s Office declared the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) “undesirable” in Russia. “The reason for this decision was that the activities of ENEMO pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement on Monday, September 27. 

The Russian election monitoring movement Golos, which was designated as a “foreign agent” in August, is a member of ENEMO’s network.

Information about ENEMO was transferred to the Russian Justice Ministry so it can be included in the country’s list of “undesirable organizations,” the Attorney General’s Office added. At the time of this writing, ENEMO wasn’t yet included in the Justice Ministry’s blacklist. 

Update. The Russian election monitoring movement Golos plans to suspend its membership in ENEMO, said the movement’s co-chair Stanislav Andreychuk on Monday. “This decision will not affect the work of the Golos movement in any way. We will suspend our membership in this organization. We already had this [happen] with another, similar network. This organization itself did not work in Russia, so it seems to me that there are no consequences for us,” Andreychuk told Interfax.

The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) is an international network made up of 23 civil society groups from 18 countries in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. According to the organization’s website, ENEMO has organized 23 international election observation missions to seven countries; its member organizations have monitored more than 200 national elections and trained more than 200,000 observers.

ENEMO will be the 48th “undesirable organization” included on the Russian Justice Ministry’s blacklist.