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At UNGA, Kyrgyz President Japarov Once Again Complains About Sanctions

Japarov also thanked Donald Trump for ending funding of NGOs.

Amid his 20-minute remarks before the United Nations General Assembly this week, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov took time to complain about sanctions and thank U.S. President Donald Trump for ceasing support to NGOs.

“…[T]oday sanctions are, in some cases, used by individual countries as an instrument of interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states,” Japarov said. “The negative consequences of unjustified unilateral sanctions also affect small countries such as ours, which are at the stage of formation and development, and this raises concern among other small states as well.”

Japarov went on to claim that “some major states, in pursuit of their own interests, put pressure on smaller countries such as Kyrgyzstan, attempting to force them to bargain over certain matters and issuing ultimatums.”

At no point did Japarov lay out specifically what countries he believes are pressuring Kyrgyzstan, and to what end. 

Then, in the middle of his commentary about sanctions, Japarov pivoted to lauding the U.S. president – although the Trump administration has maintained the prior administration’s sanctions on various Kyrgyz entities.

“In this context, I would like to take this opportunity to note the decision made by the President of the United States His Excellency Mr. Donald Trump after taking office to halt funding of non-governmental organizations around the world,” Japarov said. “As a result, interference by NGOs in the internal affairs and policies of developing states has practically ceased.”

For Japarov, the two issues are inextricably linked. Last year at UNGA, he stated that “sanctions imposed on Kyrgyzstan are based on false information spread by certain non-governmental organizations and malicious citizens.”

Japarov has not specified which NGOs or “malicious citizens” have provided this “false information” that supposedly landed Kyrgyz business and banks on sanctions lists. 

In April, Kyrgyzstan’s Bakai Bank won a case in a Belgian commercial court against the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) for its publication of reports alleging that the bank was involved in the circumvention of sanctions against Russia. Note that the bank had not been sanctioned. The court classified the NGO as a “commercial enterprise,” opening it to liability as if it were a market competitor. 

As the World Liberty Congress, a global alliance of pro-democracy leaders, said in a statement: “The court required published information to meet a commercial verification standard designed for disputes between market operators, a........

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