He leadership of the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) non-profit organization told two Russian pranksters, who posed as Belarusian opposition leaders, that they continue to work actively in Russia and also had a role in nurturing the protest movement in Belarus
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2021) The leadership of the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) non-profit organization told two Russian pranksters, who posed as Belarusian opposition leaders, that they continue to work actively in Russia and also had a role in nurturing the protest movement in Belarus.
Pranksters Vovan and Lexus contacted senior representatives of the US agency, having introduced themselves as Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and her team members. In a video call posted on the pranksters' YouTube channel on Monday, NED officials disclosed that they had actively financed and supported anti-government programs in the region and coordinated efforts with prominent political activists in a number of countries, including Russia.
"We make grants directly to organizations in Belarus, and have done so for a very long time and the critical area here first of all is free media. We support the journalists ... We support people if they have to flee the country, we support their temporary stay in other countries and all the needs that they have," NED President Carl Gershman said.
Speaking about the agency's work in Russia, the official said that although the NGO had been blacklisted as an undesirable organization in the country, it still supported many groups and activists, including jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny's associate Leonid Volkov.
"We're following closely their own strategy, you know. They're looking now toward the Duma elections in September and they have a long-term strategy and that too is an important area of dialogue between your movement and the Russian movement as to how to carry the struggle forward with a combination of both the protests that they've been having but also now preparing for the Duma elections and local elections as well," Gershman noted.
During the prank call, Nina Ognianova, who supervises the NED's work with local groups in Belarus, said that the foundation had been supporting Belarusian NGOs for more than 20 years.
"A lot of the people who have been trained by these hubs, who have been in touch with them and being educated, being involved in their work, have now taken the flag and started to lead in community organizing," Ognianova added.
After Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential election in August for the sixth time, Belarus witnessed massive protests by opposition contesting the official results of the election. The opposition claims electoral fraud, saying that Tikhanovskaya, an opposition candidate, was the real winner. The opposition called for a rerun of elections while appealing for broadening international sanctions against Minsk.
