{"id":11044,"date":"2018-05-28T08:12:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T04:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mythdetector.ge\/myth\/russian-links-of-world-congress-of-families\/"},"modified":"2022-02-28T11:44:56","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T07:44:56","slug":"russian-links-of-world-congress-of-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mythdetector.ge\/en\/russian-links-of-world-congress-of-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Links of World Congress of Families"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2014, Shaltai Boltai, an anonymous hacking group, hacked<\/a> the emails of Georgy Gavrish, a former official with the Russian Embassy to Greece and longtime member of the “Eurasianist” movement, and posted the correspondence online. The emails included frequent correspondence between senior Russian figures, such as Alexander Dugin, leader of the \u201cEurasianist\u201d movement; Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev and Alexey Komov, an official representative of Russia to the World Congress of Families, a U.S.-based organization.<\/p>\n

World Congress of Families (WCF) is an American-based Christian evangelical organization. WCF is dedicated to halting the spread of LGBT rights overseas<\/a> in the name of the defense of the \u201cnatural family,\u201d which they define as a husband and wife and their biological children.<\/p>\n

Russia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Komov has been the WCF\u2019s representative in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States for close to two decade and is deeply intertwined with various key figures within the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2014 Komov was planning to conduct WCF\u2019s annual congress in Moscow. Like every year, the congress would unite anti-LGBT activists and politicians from all over the world. But in February 2014, Russia\u2019s invasion of Crimean territory in eastern Ukraine put a damper on those plans. The E.U. and the United States faced off against Russia\u2019s desire to expand its influence and territory in Ukraine. As retaliation after the Crimean invasion, the U.S. and E.U. decided to sanction the high-level individuals who had been involved in the invasion, in which many WCF allies and backers soon found themselves embroiled.<\/p>\n

For fear of American sanctions, the WCF\u2019s American leadership publicly dropped its affiliation to the congress. Despite WCF officially pulling out, behind closed doors, a nearly identical conference was held the same day with a similar program, similar attendees, and \u2014 initially \u2014 the WCF listed as organizers. Though Komov mentioned the WCF were organizers in the media, Jacobs maintained it was not.<\/p>\n

The emails hacked by Shaltai Boltai have revealed that in September 2014 a young woman, who participated in an international forum \u201cLarge Family and Future of Humanity\u201d held in Moscow a week ago, wrote to Alexey Komov. According to the correspondence, upon her return to the United States, she appeared under constant surveillance by security services. Komov sent the message to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev and offered to seize upon the opportunity and file a lawsuit in American court. Komov claimed that it would help reveal the facts of unhidden persecution of Christians in the West and cause uproar. He also noted that the U.S.-based Alliance Defending Freedom<\/a> (ADF), one of the strongest groups defending the rights of Christians, should be used for this purpose. The group is also famous for inciting hatred.<\/p>\n

It was just Konstantin Malofeev who financed the forum \u201cLarge Family and Future of Humanity\u201d<\/strong> held in Moscow in 2014. The Russian oligarch is the founder of Marshall Capital, one of the leading investment groups; he also chairs St Basil the Great Charitable Foundation with the budget exceeding USD 40 million. Konstantin Malofeev promotes the idea of restoration of Russian Empire and Monarchy. For this purpose, he founded the school of St Basil the Great, where young people are trained for the future \u201cRussian Monarchy.\u201d Zurab Chavchavadze, the principal of the school, claims that \u201cnew elite\u201d is being raised there. For his role in Crimea\u2019s annexation and subsequent referendum, Malofeev was sanctioned by the U.S.and the E.U.<\/p>\n

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\nZurab Chavchavadze, the principal of the school opened by Konstantin Malofeev. <\/em><\/p>\n

One of the supporters of WCF in Russia, is hard-right parliamentarian Elena Mizulina<\/strong>, author of the infamous 2013 law banning \u201cpropaganda for non-traditional sexual relations\u201d which led to a doubling of hate crimes against LGBT people in the five years since the law\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n

Another person with links to WCF is Alexander Dugin, founder of the \u201cEurasianist\u201d movement and ultranationalist philosopher<\/strong>, who held an Eurasian conference in Moldova in December 2017, where it was announced that Moldova would also be the location of the next WCF congress, slated for September 2018.Alexander Dugin also serves as the editorial director of Malofeev\u2019s far-right Tsargrad TV channel.<\/p>\n

Dugin\u2019s Eurasian idea promotes Russian expansion and Russia\u2019s superior spiritual and political role on the Eurasian continent. It is based on Russian orthodox vision. Inspired with Nazi Germany\u2019s idea, Dugin believes that the Eurasian continent should be the federation of countries led by Russia. Alexander Dugin considers White Nationalists as potential allies of the Eurasian project, because they are traditionalists. For his role in Crimea\u2019s annexation and his actions against Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Dugin was sanctioned by the United States.<\/p>\n

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\nPhoto<\/a>: Alexander Dugin, 2008, Russian aggression in Georgia \u2013 Tskhinvali Region <\/em><\/p>\n

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Dugin\u2019s Eurasian Conference was hosted in Chisinau by Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who is famous for his pro-Russian sentiments. Alexey Komov, as well as Georgian businessman Levan Vasadze attended the conference from the World Congress of Families. Later, Levan Vasadze hosted<\/a> Moldovan President Igor Dodon in Georgia.<\/p>\n

Georgia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Businessman Levan Vasadze, who amassed his wealth in Russia, represents the World Congress of Families (WCF) in Georgia. The 10th anniversary congress of WCF titled \u201cCivilization at the Crossroads: The Natural Family as The Bulwark of Freedom and Human Values\u201d<\/strong> was held<\/a> in Tbilisi on May 15-17, 2016. The event was organized and hosted by Levan Vasadze. Speaking at the congress, Vasadze made homophobic statements containing<\/a> anti-Western and pro-Russian sentiments.<\/p>\n

Levan Vasadze:<\/strong> \u201cTogether with Russian people, we got rid of and defeated first fascism and then communism, both of which came from the West. Earlier, Christian Russia helped Christian Georgia survive the destruction. But it was achieved at the expense of abolition of Georgian Kingdom and Autocephaly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, clergy and Nino Burjanadze, leader of a pro-Russian political party United Democratic Movement, also attended the event.<\/p>\n

A Georgian-language Facebook page of the World Congress of Families has over 23 700 followers. The page actively posts Levan Vasadze\u2019s statements as well as extracts from his speech at the 2016 congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Iakob Gogebashvili School was founded in 2009; it is owned<\/a> by Levan Vasadze\u2019s wife, Nino Durglishvili. According to the information provided on the school\u2019s official website<\/a>, its vision is based on Georgian, Orthodox, traditional values. The school granted scholarships for 2017-2018 only to the 8th grade boys. It cited gender balance as the reason behind its decision because the 8th grade boys suffered from discomfort<\/a> and oppression due to being in the minority. The Georgian Public Defender recommended the school to observe the principle of equality and eradicate gender stereotypes.<\/p>\n

Levan Vasadze is one of the founders<\/a> of Georgian Demographic Society XXI<\/strong>. In 2015, Georgian Dream lawmaker, Soso Jachvliani, submitted two legislative initiatives developed by Georgian Demographic Society XXI to the Parliament: one concerned removing terms \u201csexual orientation\u201d and \u201cgender\u201d from the Anti-Discrimination Law, whereas another one demanded to make \u201cinsult of religious feelings\u201d punishable by the Administrative Code of Georgia.<\/p>\n

European Countries<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In April 2017, the former French <\/strong><\/span>WCF representative, Fabrice Sorlin, organized the first WCF regional conference in Paris. The conference covered the following panels:<\/p>\n