activities of the Open Society Foundations on its territory, declaring "It was found that the activity of the Open Society Foundations and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation represents a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and the security of the state". In 2017, Open Society Foundations and other NGOs which promote open government and help refugees were targeted for crackdowns by authoritarian and populist governments who have been emboldened by encouraging signals from the Trump Administration. Several politicians in eastern Europe, including Liviu Dragnea in Romania and right-wing figures Szilard Nemeth in Hungary, North Macedonia's Nikola Gruevski, who called for a "de-Sorosization" of society, and Poland's Jarosław Kaczyński, who has said that Soros-funded groups want "societies without identity", regard many of the NGO groups to be irritants at best, and threats at worst. Some of those Soros-funded advocacy groups in the region said the renewed attacks were harassment and intimidation, which became more open after the 2016 election of Donald Trump in the United States. Stefania Kapronczay of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, which receives half of its funding from Soros-backed foundations, claimed that Hungarian officials are "testing the waters" in an effort to see "what they can get away with." In 2017, the government of Pakistan ordered the Open Society Foundations to cease operations within the country. In May 2018, Open Society Foundations announced they will move its office from Budapest to Berlin, amid Hungarian government interference. In November 2018, Open Society Foundations announced they are ceasing operations in Turkey and closing their Istanbul and Ankara offices due to "false accusations and speculations beyond measure", amid pressure from Turkish government and governmental interference through detainment of Turkish intellectuals and liberal academics claimed to be associated with the foundation and related NGOs, associations and programmes. See also Alliance for Open Society International Blinken Open Society Archives Budapest Open Access Initiative Central European University Colour revolution Directory of Open Access Journals Open society Open Society Foundations–Armenia Open Society Institute-Baltimore Transparency International Transparify References Further reading . . . . . . . Stone, Diana (2013) Knowledge Actors and Transnational Governance: The Private-Public Policy Nexus in the Global Agora. Palgrave Macmillan External links Open Society Foundations official website Blinken Open Society Archives Civic organizations George Soros Non-profit technology Political and economic research foundations in the United States Organizations established in 1993 Global policy organizations Grants