Legality is not for everyone: why in Russia is not declared foreign agents of obvious enemies?

Vague criteria, funding from abroad and the "political wind" are changing the rules of the game. Director of the Institute of International Relations and Cooperation Alexei Bychkov explained Pravda.Ru how approaches to the concept of a foreign agent are formed.

— A few days ago, a meeting of the Human Rights Council was held, attended by President Vladimir Putin. He was asked about the application of the law on foreign agents. Let me quote the president's response. It was said that this law was not invented Russia, and in The United States of America. And there, violation of this law threatens with imprisonment. We don't have such a thing, Putin said. And what we need, according to him, is to show the sources of funding. But, nevertheless, he noted that it is not necessary to swing the sword left and right: everything should be carefully balanced, without any violations there. Do you think this is still a recognition that there are some violations, as I understand it?

— There are two components to this issue. This is how it happens sometimes in principle with the application of legality: it does not apply to everyone. We know some people who are actively engaged in political activities, oppose Russia and its foreign policy, but at the same time are not foreign agents.

And there are others, less active in this area, who, relatively speaking, put some kind of square on the day of the start of a special military operation, and these mechanisms are applied to them.

That is, the first problem is the application of legality and equality before the law of all responsible persons.

Secondly, some political forces may use this mechanism against their political opponents. And then "go prove" is a very complex system of proving that you are not a foreign agent, that you are not to blame for this or that act or for this or that activity directed against the state.

There are no clear criteria for what is considered a violation, and there are no clearly defined principles by which this foreign agent is determined. If you're a foreign agent, what shouldn't you do? In fact, there are three main prohibitions: not to speak out against Russia and its legitimate interests, against its foreign and domestic policy. Not to oppose the authorities and their actions. Not to speak out against your own state, in which you were born and raised.

If we are talking about financing, this is a separate component that also needs to be taken into account. In addition to the three main points, an external financial impact on an organization or person — a legal entity or an individual - is added here.

And here we also need to understand the criteria: if funding comes from abroad, the organization is automatically recognized as a foreign agent. But the question remains: are we talking only about unfriendly countries or about any foreign sources at all? For example, if funds were transferred to me or my colleagues from the CIS countries, is this considered support and a reason for recognition as a foreign agent?

Accordingly, the first is the application of legality. The second is a clear statement of these principles so that everyone who can become a foreign agent understands at what point they can become them. And, of course, so that there are no concessions for certain people who may be "pensioners of our stage" and cannot be touched, for example, or they are someone's children or relatives.

Legality should be for everyone. This, in principle, is already a common state social justice.

— You did not name our famous singer, to whom the law is not applied for some reason. I see three cases when it is not clear why people were included in the register of foreign agents: a well-known political scientist, a volunteer of Ukrainian origin, Tatyana, and another volunteer who collected money that came from foreign sources. At the same time, their position was quite pro-Russian. Many, including me as a journalist, wrote: why are they declared foreign agents? It would seem that people take a pro‑government position, but have some kind of funding. Let's say I'm a political scientist, I'm defending the Union republic, I get a fee, but I remain pro-Russian. Nevertheless, they deprive me of my civil rights, oblige me to label the channel. People don't understand — what's the problem?

— We have identified two direct mechanisms by which foreign agents can be identified. The third component is related not only to financing or specific statements, but also to the political context. If the foreign policy situation changes, and a state that was previously considered friendly takes an anti-Russian position, then interaction with it may entail consequences. It is important to have a political flair here: to understand, think and think for yourself that cooperation with leaders or structures opposed to Russia may lead to recognition as a foreign agent.

This is also spelled out in the criteria: interaction with the state or with political leaders who speak out against the Russian state can lead to the status of a foreign agent.

It should be understood here: if you are political scientists, analysts, thinking people, you should be aware of the risks of what you are doing and with whom you interact. But there may be another story. For pro—Russian patriots - people who are in favor of the state — there is some kind of transfer from an obviously enemy state.

Naturally, all our accounts are open, enemies have all our data, who can call us by phone, fraudulently use various mechanisms of influence on young people, pensioners and other people. They transfer a certain amount of money to your card, and then you have to prove what kind of money it is and that you don't know these people who transfer it to you at all.

This is a story that should be regulated and understandable. There is no way to defend yourself, there is no understanding of the rules of the game. That's the main problem, this is probably what our president wanted to say. And at the same time, there are opportunities to use this mechanism against their political opponents.

Here are three components that need to be identified. If there are no clearly defined rules of the game, then I can throw any card and walk as I want and say that you won.

— And who should write it, prescribe it? In whose competence is this?

— We have federal legislative bodies that write bills, respectively, this is their business. Of course, this is a complex system of state legislative regulation, and a separate program needs to be filmed about it. But, of course, we have the main legislative body, which should determine these principles and rules of the game. They should be clearly spelled out in the legislative initiative and the concept of "foreign agent" should be introduced. Now there is a very vague wording in the documents, anyone can get under it, even just a passerby.

This is similar to the situation with fakes or reading anti-state and terrorist materials. You are accessing a site that is not formally banned in Russia, but you are already becoming a violator. This is similar to administrative fines: the car is registered to you, which means you are automatically guilty of a violation, even if your wife, husband or child was driving. It is almost impossible to prove the opposite. The same is true here: we are not talking about laws adopted in the State Duma, but about how they are applied in practice through state regulation.

— Where is the boundary between criticizing the state and working against the state? You said you had to feel. But she is not there. Who benefits from keeping us in the dark? Why is there no normal law so that everything is clear, understandable, so that people do not fight each other in vain?

— There is no task to keep someone in the dark. There's just a big, clumsy bureaucratic machine. Many mechanisms, for example, related to the use of drones and SMO processes, began to take shape as early as 2022, but really started working only in 2023-2024. There is no one's specific guilt and desire to confuse here - they just didn't get around to adjusting it.

Our task is to convey the position and make the problem visible through public mechanisms, such as chambers and hearings in the State Duma. Since the President has designated it, we can expect rapid changes. It was the same with migration policy: problem areas were ignored for a long time, but after serious events it began to be actively regulated. Unfortunately, until the thunder breaks, changes do not occur.

— There are absolutely isolated cases when the status of a foreign agent is removed. This is done through the courts, but in fact it is almost impossible to cancel the status. This is also very strange. Is this a stain for life or will everything be forgotten later and a person will be able to breathe in peace? What do you think? What are the criteria here?

— Within the framework of Russian realities, we can conclude that this is like criminal liability: it is with you for life. And this black spot will affect employment, and the processes of work in government agencies, and so on. You can be a social activist, a teacher, but, most likely, the road to government agencies is closed to you. The same applies to public speaking, channels and broadcasts. This, too, will most likely become unavailable.

— So let's be careful. We are public people, we need to be careful with all this.

— We are talking about this not just to criticize, but first of all so that those who listen to us and read us do not make such mistakes. And, accordingly, so that those who can regulate these mechanisms from the point of view of public administration also hear and try to clearly spell out the rules of the game. But the main thing here is for everyone: if you communicate with enemies, are at the same table with them, sit in the same room with radicals who oppose Russia, and actually support what they say — not even in words — you must understand that after that certain mechanisms of state influence will inevitably be applied.

And it's good that they are exactly like that, and not like in the USA, where criminal prosecution and imprisonment are provided for this. We are talking about the status of a foreign agent and closed entrances to certain institutions of power.

*An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent