Some people just can’t take a hint. Like George Soros, for example.
On Nov. 20, the liberal billionaire’s Open Society Foundations and Open Society Institute were banned from operating in Russia, according to CNBC.
In a translated press release, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office said that Soros’ operations in Russia were “a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and the security of the state.”
Although this “troubled” the U.S. State Department, it’s nothing new. Soros’ Open Society Institute was previously kicked out of Moscow twelve years ago, but the CNBC report failed to mention this. Don't expect other media outlets to make the connection either.
In 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Moscow headquarters for Soros’ foundation was raided and people evicted by armed private security. Though the eviction was blamed on a rent dispute with the building’s landlord, it happened shortly after Soros spoke out against the jailing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested on “tax evasion, forgery and fraud charges.”
Khodorkovsky had created his own organization, the Open Russia Foundation, which was based on “Soros' Open Society Institute and had close links to the Soros Foundation's work,” according to that report.
The State Department condemned the latest Russian ban against Soros, saying, “we are deeply troubled by Russia’s continued restrictions against civil society organizations in Russia,” according to Fox News.
“We urge the Government of Russia to uphold its international obligations and commitments to respect the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, and the rule of law,” the State Department concluded.
Soros’ interventions abroad have not led to ‘peaceful assembly,’ however. Internationally, he is often a hated man, given his tendency to help start revolutions, undermine national currencies and fund radicals around the world.
In his book, “Open Society,” he even calls himself “an active participant in the revolution that swept away the Soviet system.”
