Montenegrin civil society condemns initiative for Russia-style ‘Foreign Agents’ Law

Other states in the Balkans region might adopt similar laws

Originally published on Global Voices

Civil society organizations from Montenegro warn that the newly proposed law on “agents of foreign influence” represents a serious threat to democratic processes, freedom of assembly, and the activities of non-governmental organizations. This law, inspired by similar regulations from countries such as Russia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Hungary, would create a legal framework that would make it significantly more difficult and even impossible for NGOs to operate.

The proposal was introduced on October 9 by the ruling Coalition for the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), consisting of pro-Serbian and pro-Russian political parties, whose leaders include acquitted defendants in the 2016 “coup” plot involving Russian spies.

ZBCG claimed that the new law would be based on the US's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) law. Although other members of the Government expressed opposition to this initiative, ZBCG is continuing its campaign against NGOs.

Addressing the proposal to introduce a so-called FARA law, the leading Montenegrin pro-democracy organization Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) published an analysis titled “FARAway from the essence,” debunking the claim the Montenegrin law is similar to FARA, and noting that this is not the Montenegran government's first to attempt to target the civil sector. CDT noted that such an attack on civil society would undermine democratic processes and Montenegro's European aspirations, which would threaten its credibility on the international stage.

The Digital Forensic Center, a think-tank focused on reducing the impact of misinformation, also warned that:

The reference made by the coalition For the Future of Montenegro to the American Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) is already an established disinformation tactic of pro-Russian proxies across Europe. They use the existence of this Law to realize an agenda in their countries that contradicts democratic values, and carry out totalitarian tendencies, suppressing the freedom of civil society and limiting the activities of independent media and non-governmental organizations.

Regional trends

While the proposed law could have a devastating impact on Montenegran civil society, they are by no means alone in using this strategy, as it is seemingly part of a regional trend. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro's neighbor, unsuccessfully tried to pass a similar law, claiming it was based on the American legislation. In Bosnia, the initiators were ethnic Serbian or pro-Serbian parties that run the entity Republika Srpska. They are also advocating for alliance with Russia, and undermining the Euro-Atlantic integration of their country. CDT noted in their analysis:

U bosanskohercegovačkom entitetu Republika Srpska trebalo je da se razmatra o sličnom prijedlogu zakona proljetos, ali je povučen iz procedure. Predsjednik entiteta, Milorad Dodik, prethodno je rekao da će doslovno prepisati FARA-u i umjesto SAD upisati Republika Srpska. Ali, prema uvidu medija, prijedlog zakona niji ličio na FARA-u već na onaj iz Rusije. Zbog toga su reagovali iz delegacije EU u BiH, ambasade SAD i (OEBS-a).

In Bosnia and Herzegovina the entity of Republika Srpska was supposed to consider similar proposal this spring, but it was withdrawn from procedure. The president of that entity, Milorad Dodik, previously stated that they will literally copy the FARA text and just replace the word USA with Republika Srpska. However, media insight showed that the draft law didn't resemble the US FARA but the Russian Foreign Agents Law. This was the  reason for strong reactions by the Delegation of European Union in BiH, the USA embassy and by the OSCE.

The Bosnian Serb government withdrew their controversial draft law, which would have required all non-profit groups receiving international funding to register in a national database, thus designating them as foreign agents, in May. However, there are no guarantees against them attempting it again. After all, they also maintain close relations with the ruling party in Hungary, which adopted similar legislation after several attempts.

Even though it is a member of the European Union, Hungary adopted a law similar to the Russian Foreign Agents Act in 2017, which was meant to hinder civil society organizations that receive funding from abroad. The law was repealed in 2021 after the European Court of Justice determined it was not in line with EU regulations.

However, in December 2023 Hungary adopted a new Russia-style law called the Sovereignty Protection Act, similar in spirit to the Russian Foreign Agents Act. As part of the act, the “Sovereignty Protection Office” was then set up to gather information on groups and individuals receiving foreign funds. The European Commission announced on October 3, 2024, that it was suing Hungary over the law that imposes jail terms for groups that accept foreign funds for political causes.

Although Hungarian government politicians initially denied that the sovereignty protection law was part of a campaign against civil society and the independent press, an investigation by the Hungarian fact-checking service Lakmusz showed that it was demonstrably clear who the law was targeting.

For example, in June, the Sovereignty Protection Office launched an investigation against the investigative newsroom Átlátszó and the anti-corruption organization Transparency International Hungary. The office has also published “studies” of dubious methodology that listed “pro-war” newspapers and articles spreading “disinformation.” The Sovereignty Protection Office is also harassing public bodies to collect information on a “sovereignty protection basis,” including bank account details of certain individuals.

The right-wing populist ruling party in Slovakia had also been preparing a law based on the Hungarian model, which would target those who would receive more than EUR 5,000 from abroad, labeling them as “organizations with foreign support,” threatening them with monetary fines or closing. The EU condemned the law and warned that Slovakia would face a similar legal response as Hungary.

Back in Montenegro, in a statement for Vijesti newspaper, the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights CEDEM, Nevenka Vuksanović, remarked that the ruling coalition's initiative for new foreign agents law could be a “trying balloon” trying to test the pubic attitudes while promoting initiatives which currently don't have public support as they run contrary to the country's primary goal to join the EU.

Očigledno imaju širu agendu, te nam kap po kap ispostavljaju djelove koji se vremenom u javnom diskursu normalizuju, do te mjere da svim građanima djeluju poznato, a onda će i u jednom momentu biti i prihvatljivo. Koja je to agenda, ipak nije u ovom momentu jasno.

Obviously they have a wider agenda, and drop by drop are trying to normalize issues which are part of that agenda in the public discourse. Drop by drop they make such notions familiar to the citizens, and then to make them acceptable. Which is their [ultimate] agenda it remains unclear at this moment.

Written by Global Voices Central & Eastern Europe