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Senator says definition of foreign interference may be included in Russia’s legislation

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. A definition of foreign interference in Russia’s domestic affairs may be included in the national legislation, head of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Temporary Commission on defending state sovereignty and preventing interference in Russia’s internal affairs Andrei Klimov said.

"As soon as we started our work, we saw that unfortunately, international law does not offer a definition of foreign interference in a country’s domestic affairs," he said addressing an international conference initiated by the Russian Central Election Commission, dubbed Modern Election Trends in a Multipolar World. "In this regard, we made up a definition in order to facilitate our activities. But I very much hope that in the near future we would be able to describe it in legal terms and include in the Russian legislation," Klimov added.

According to the senator, the commission he heads currently considers "any activities by a foreign state, companies, individuals and groups of individuals, aimed at affecting Russia’s territorial integrity, changing the country’s constitutional order, territorial integrity, domestic and foreign policies, the makeup of federal and local authorities" to be foreign interference.

"At the same time, activities based on agreements with foreign counterparts cannot be considered as foreign interference," Klimov stressed.