Russia Nixes USAID

From Moscow Times:
"Russia Closes USAID Office"

The United States will close the Russia office of the U.S. Agency for International Development at the request of the Russian government, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday, sparking fears from some aid recipients that they won't survive. But U.S. officials insisted that they would find new ways to promote democracy and civil society without a USAID office here. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton notified the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday that the USAID office would be shut down, a senior U.S. administration official said. The Russians had told Clinton that they wanted the office closed during her visit to Vladivostok for the APEC summit at the beginning of this month, and the Foreign Ministry followed up on the request with a diplomatic note on Sept. 12, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. USAID has been given a deadline of Oct. 1.  "The Russian government has decided that they want the activities of USAID to cease in Russia, and that's their decision, and we have responded to that decision today," the U.S. official said.  The Kremlin, reeling from unprecedented protests among the middle class since disputed State Duma elections in December, has accused the U.S. State Department of fomenting the unrest and tightened the screws on nongovernmental organizations like Golos, the country's only independent elections watchdog, which exposed fraud during the Duma vote and subsequent March presidential election. A major portion of Golos' budget comes from USAID. USAID, which has a mandate to support U.S. foreign policy, has spent more than $2.6 billion over the past 20 years in Russia, encouraging economic and democratic reforms, backing health and environmental initiatives, and promoting stability in the Caucasus. The Russia office is staffed by 13 Americans and 60 Russians, according to a U.S. government official. It currently works with 57 Russian partners. The last time the Russian government pushed out a U.S. government program also occurred on Putin's watch. In 2002, Peace Corps volunteers were declared unwelcome after the Federal Security Service accused them of snooping on Russian officials instead fulfilling their self-stated mission of promoting world peace and friendship through volunteerism.

^ It seems that just when you think Russo-American relations are starting to get better (ie with the recent visa changes) one country - this time it's Russia - decides to do something like this. The Russian Government must be really scared of the protesters if they are taking this step. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-closes-usaid-office/468408.html