The state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday, the 29th of November that the Russian Interior Ministry has drafted a law proposing to introduce a “loyalty agreement” for foreigners entering the country. If adopted, all foreign visitors would have to sign the contract, which would restrict their freedom of expression, reports Reuters.
According to Reuters, citing TASS, foreigners entering Russia will be forbidden from “interfering with the activities of state institutions of the Russian Federation, defaming in any way the foreign and domestic state policy of the Russian Federation, state institutions and their officials”.
The treaty would also include clauses addressing
morality, family, “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” and history.
In particular, foreigners would be banned from “distorting the historical truth about the Soviet people’s heroic deeds in defence of the Fatherland and their contribution to the victory over fascism”, writes Reuters.
The TASS report does not make clear which foreigners will be affected by the bill if it is adopted, or what the penalty will be if a clause of the treaty is violated.
The Kremlin have declined to comment on the draft law.
According to Reuters, opposition activists and foreign diplomats in Moscow have for months expressed concern about the growing crackdown ahead of the presidential elections. Earlier this month, the Kremlin said that Russia’s military activities in Ukraine
required some censorship and warned those who criticised the military.
To become law, the draft must be submitted to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament. It must be examined by committees and have several readings before being submitted to President Putin for signature.
Leonid Kalashnikov, Chairman of the State Duma’s CIS Affairs Committee, has said that the draft law is at an advanced stage of preparation and is being drafted jointly by the Ministry of the Interior, the Government, the Presidential Administration and his committee. He acknowledged that some details of the law still need to be clarified.
The Ministry of Interior has not yet responded to Reuters’ requests for comment, but according to a Reuters search of the State Duma database, the law has not yet been formally submitted to Parliament.
Russia has introduced various restrictions on foreigners from what it considers “unfriendly countries”, i.e. countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia because of the Ukraine war, reports Reuters.
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