At the Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) 2024, one of our deep talks, called ‚A Chilling Climate: The Foreign Agent Laws and Their Ripple Effect‘ and moderated by Ms Sabina Malcová (Executive Director at DEMAS, Czechia) showed us what’s behind the rhetoric of Foreign agent laws and the hidden agenda to undermine civil society.

There were three expert panelists:
– Ms. Ivana Rosenzweigova, Senior Legal Advisor at European Center for Not-For-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL),
– Mr. Bystrik Antalik, Senior adviser at the Office of Plenipotentiary for Development of Civil society, Slovakia,
– Ms. Tamar Gurchiani, Deputy Chief of Party for the Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS).
The speakers shed light on a troubling trend: the spread of foreign agent laws across Central and Eastern Europe. While these laws claim to promote transparency, their real impact is far from democratic. By labeling civil society organizations (CSOs) as „foreign agents,“ these laws seek to stigmatize, isolate, and silence voices that challenge those in power.

What are the key takeaways according to Mr. Juraj Jando – Policy expert at our Ambrela platform:

Behind the Rhetoric of Transparency: Foreign agent laws are framed as tools to increase transparency, but our expert panelists revealed the deeper, often-hidden agenda—to delegitimize independent organizations and sow public distrust in civil society. These laws, often inspired by authoritarian models, do more than restrict funding; they redefine CSOs as outsiders and threats, shifting public perception and shrinking democratic space.

The Weight of Administrative Burdens: Foreign agent laws also impose a crushing administrative burden on CSOs. Compliance often means extensive reporting, labeling of all materials, and submitting complex financial documentation that strains already limited resources. For many organizations, this administrative load diverts time and energy from their core mission, creating barriers that slow or even halt essential development work.

Development Organizations Facing a “Double Label”: For Slovak development organizations, these laws carry a unique stigma. Because they receive funds from international partners, they’re at risk of being labeled as „foreign agents.“ On top of that, when they implement projects abroad—like in Georgia—they may be perceived as imposing outside influence, almost as „foreign overseers.“

The topic is highly actual in Slovakia as National Council is going to discuss the proposal on foreign agents in a close future. It seems that the most damaging parts as „labeling“ and disolution of organisations by Ministry would not be part of the legislation, but the concrete wording is not even available yet.

You can re-watch the video from the ADF 2024 deep talk 3 on ‚A Chilling Climate: The Foreign agent Laws and their Ripple effect‘ together with other #ADF2024 discussions on Youtube here.