Moscow: The European Union joined the United States today in condemning a Russian crackdown on "undesirable" NGOs, calling it a "worrying step" that would stifle free speech.
Under the law signed by President Vladimir Putin last evening, Russian prosecutors will be able to target foreign groups whose "undesirable activities" are deemed to threaten "state security" or the "basic values of the Russian state."
Such groups and their publications risk being banned in Russia, having their bank accounts blocked and violators face fines or prison terms of up to six years.
People cooperating with such entities would also be hit with fines and could be banned from entry to Russia, according to the text, which sailed through the two chambers of Russia's parliament.
The EU called the law a "worrying step in a series of restrictions on civil society, independent media and political opposition" in Russia.
"It will restrict freedom of speech and media as well as pluralism of opinion," a spokesperson for the EU's foreign service said in a statement.
US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the law illustrated the creeping restrictions on criticism of the Kremlin.
"We are concerned this new power will further restrict the work of civil society in Russia and is a further example of the Russian government's growing crackdown on independent voices and intentional steps to isolate the Russian people from the world," she said in a statement.
"Russians, like people everywhere, deserve a government that supports an open marketplace of ideas, transparent and accountable governance, equal treatment under the law and the ability to exercise their rights without fear of retribution."
The "undesirables" law builds upon existing legislation branding groups with foreign funding as "foreign agents," passed shortly after Putin began his third historic term in the Kremlin in 2012, despite massive protests.
Russian officials have accused NATO of trying to undermine the country and views internal criticism as the work of spies and traitors.
The Kremlin's sensitivity to reproval has been accentuated by the West's isolation of Russia - and levying of sanctions on the country - over its Crimea annexation and alleged military backing for insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
