German directors of the Petersburg Dialogue, a Russian-German civil society forum, said on Friday that they would not attend a joint board meeting with Russian counterparts in July, citing a ban on two member charities
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) German directors of the Petersburg Dialogue, a Russian-German civil society forum, said on Friday that they would not attend a joint board meeting with Russian counterparts in July, citing a ban on two member charities.
The Russian state prosecutor's office banned three German-based non-governmental organizations on Wednesday after calling their work "undesirable" and a threat to the national security. Two of them are associated with the Petersburg Dialogue.
"The Petersburg Dialogue is supposed to build bridges between our countries. We will not accept bans on the work of its members in Russia and threats of draconian fines," Ronald Pofalla, the German board chairman, said in a statement.
Moscow will host the board meeting from July 8-9. German board directors said they will also skip the main conference in Russian's Kaliningrad in October unless all members of the dialogue are allowed to attend. Russia has banned three Dialogue-linked NGOs since 2018.
