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| MacArthur Foundation to Close Offices in Russia | MacArthur Foundation to Close Offices in Russia |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — The MacArthur Foundation is closing its offices in Russia after more than 20 years of grant-making here, becoming the latest casualty of new restrictions meant to limit the influence of foreign organizations in Russia. | |
| The foundation’s Russian employees and the civil-society organizations that receive its grants would be put at risk if it continued to operate in the country, the foundation said in a statement. | The foundation’s Russian employees and the civil-society organizations that receive its grants would be put at risk if it continued to operate in the country, the foundation said in a statement. |
| This month, Russian lawmakers published a preliminary list of 12 nongovernmental organizations that could be banned under a new law signed in May by President Vladimir V. Putin. The MacArthur Foundation was on the list. The new law gives the Russian authorities power to shut down groups that are deemed to be “undesirable” and to pose a threat to Russia’s security. | |
| The new law and public statements made by Russian lawmakers “make it clear that the Russian government regards MacArthur’s continued presence as unwelcome,” the foundation said. | The new law and public statements made by Russian lawmakers “make it clear that the Russian government regards MacArthur’s continued presence as unwelcome,” the foundation said. |
| The group, based in Chicago, has awarded more than $173 million in grants in Russia since 1992. The grants finance activities related to higher education, human rights and limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. | The group, based in Chicago, has awarded more than $173 million in grants in Russia since 1992. The grants finance activities related to higher education, human rights and limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. |
| Responding to accusations that the 12 groups on the Russian blacklist were acting on the American government’s behalf, the foundation said in its statement: “We are entirely independent of the United States government and receive no funding from it. We have never supported political activities or other actions that could reasonably be construed as meeting the definition of ‘undesirable.’ ” | |
| A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the foundation’s announcement, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the upper house of the Russian Parliament, said the fact that the foundation was pulling out of Russia meant that lawmakers were right to single it out. | |
| “The fact that the fund is ending its activities means only one thing: that it directly or indirectly acknowledges the basis for the questions and the claims that were directed against it,” Mr. Kosachev said, according to Interfax. | “The fact that the fund is ending its activities means only one thing: that it directly or indirectly acknowledges the basis for the questions and the claims that were directed against it,” Mr. Kosachev said, according to Interfax. |
| Nongovernmental organizations have been shutting down their activities in Russia at a quickening pace in recent weeks. The Dynasty Fund, a Russian group that has given millions of dollars to programs dedicated to the sciences, decided on July 5 to close down because it had not been able to get its name off a government list of groups deemed to be “foreign agents.” | Nongovernmental organizations have been shutting down their activities in Russia at a quickening pace in recent weeks. The Dynasty Fund, a Russian group that has given millions of dollars to programs dedicated to the sciences, decided on July 5 to close down because it had not been able to get its name off a government list of groups deemed to be “foreign agents.” |
| The push against such groups, especially those that receive money from abroad, is part of a tide of nationalism in Russia that has been rising since last year, after a revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea. The mood in the country has turned patriotic and defensive, and there is broad acceptance of moves to tamp down and control foreign groups that the Kremlin sees as a threat. American organizations are seen as particularly suspect, in line with claims that the United States is trying to foment revolution in Russia. | The push against such groups, especially those that receive money from abroad, is part of a tide of nationalism in Russia that has been rising since last year, after a revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea. The mood in the country has turned patriotic and defensive, and there is broad acceptance of moves to tamp down and control foreign groups that the Kremlin sees as a threat. American organizations are seen as particularly suspect, in line with claims that the United States is trying to foment revolution in Russia. |
| Other groups on the lawmakers’ list of 12 include George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Freedom House and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. | Other groups on the lawmakers’ list of 12 include George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Freedom House and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. |