Russia accuses USAID of trying to sway elections

Source: Businessweek

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia explained its decision to end the U.S. Agency for International Development's two decades of work in Russia by saying Wednesday that the agency was its money to influence elections.

The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that Russia has demanded USAID leave the country, a culmination of years of resentment over what Moscow sees as American interference aimed at undermining President Vladimir Putin's hold on power.

"We are talking about attempts through the issuing of grants to affect the course of political processes, including elections on various levels, and institutions of civil society," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Nearly 60 percent of the aid agency's $50 million annual budget this year has been allocated for the promotion of democracy and civil society in Russia. Some of this money has gone to support Russia's only independent election monitoring group, Golos, which fielded thousands of observers in last winter's parliamentary and presidential elections, compiling reports of widespread vote fraud in support of Putin's party.

Putin had accused Western governments of trying to influence the December parliamentary vote through their grant recipients, and a state-owned television channel directly denounced Golos, showing suitcases full of dollars that the group supposedly had received. After those elections set off an unprecedented wave of protests, Putin accused the demonstrators of being in the pay of Washington.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-19/russia-accuses-usaid-of-trying-to-sway-elections