The Russian government has declared the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a free market think tank affiliated with Germany's liberal-conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP), as "undesirable."
The classification as an undesirable organization is tantamount to a ban on work in Russia. The foundation announced on Thursday that the Russian Justice Ministry had added it to the blacklist the day before.
"For Russians in particular, especially the foundation's long-standing partners, working with an undesirable organization poses a high risk," the Naumann Foundation's board wrote in a statement.
The move shows that "the Kremlin is threatening the worldwide, resolute commitment to civil and human rights."
"We will not be deterred by this and will stick to our mission," the board wrote.
Other organizations classified as undesirable by the Russian government include the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, as well as the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom, which was created in memory of Russian opposition politician who was murdered in 2015.
Similar German foundations linked to the other two parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government - the Greens and Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) - have also been declared undesirable by the Russian government since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Under a Russian law passed in 2015, undesirable organizations must cease their activities in Russia, according to the Berlin-based Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS).
Bank accounts and any property can be frozen and offices in Russia can be closed under the law, while Russian citizens risk criminal prosecution if they come into contact with "undesirable" organizations.
