Czechia preparing Kremlin-style bill to crack down on NGOs, critics say

Opposition parties, NGOs and academics are accusing Czechia’s new government of preparing to introduce a Russia-style law, which would stifle dissent by tightening disclosure rules on foreign financing for NGOs.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s right-wing government has described the creation of a public register for NGO subsidies as a key government program priority. “This is not any kind of foreign agents law, but rather about making funding transparent,” he told journalists last week. “We want to do this and we will do it,” said Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Petr Macinka about the proposed legislation on Monday.

However, Czech opposition parties, academics and NGOs say the new rules, along with the expected severe penalties, would stigmatize and burden civil society instead of enhancing transparency. They also say it could be used by the government to justify repressive measures — like in Georgia and Russia — such as silencing independent NGOs and imprisoning opposition figures.

They expect the proposal will follow the contours of a draft version — yet to be presented in parliament — which was first disclosed by media outlet Seznam Zprávy and later seen by POLITICO. It would create a database of NGOs with foreign ties and require them to disclose detailed information about their activities, staff and funding. However, NGOs wouldn’t have to label themselves as foreign-funded.

Fines for noncompliance would start at 1 million Czech koruna (€40,000) for administrative errors, rising to 15 million Czech koruna (€600,000) for more serious violations.

The text was drawn up by MPs from the ruling coalition as a preliminary working draft, rather than by the government as an official bill. Czech Minister of Justice Jeroným Tejc told POLITICO that the leaked version “was not prepared by anyone from the Ministry of Justice, and personally I do not consider it suitable for discussion.”

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský called the working draft a “Russian recipe for totalitarianism.” Danuše Nerudová, an MEP for the European People’s Party and former Czech presidential candidate, warned in a statement to POLITICO that “it stigmatizes civil society, nongovernmental organizations, experts and the media, and it introduces a principle into the Czech environment that belongs more in authoritarian regimes.”

Czechia’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský speaks to media arriving for a Ministerial Council meeting of the OSCE on December 4, 2025 in Vienna, Austria. | Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP via Getty Images)

“When laws of this kind are drafted so broadly … the extreme vagueness of those legislative terms always means they want to create a tool that they can, but don’t have to, use against whoever they want,” said Nadiia Ivanova, head of the Human Rights and Democracy Centre at the NGO People in Need.

Babiš dismissed comparisons to the Russian law, and said the working draft version would undergo changes.

Macinka was more combative on Monday: “When you’re out of arguments, you just bring up Russia, that’s a classic,” he said.

After the public backlash, Tomio Okamura, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, clarified that a government ministry will now take over and finalize the legislation before introducing it in parliament.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not reply to a request for comment.