Countering Transnational Repression in Europe and Eurasia

Transnational repression (TNR) takes place when governments reach beyond their own borders to silence dissent, targeting exiled journalists, human rights defenders, and other civil society members who have left their country of origin. TNR methods range from digital surveillance, spyware and online harassment to passport cancellation, the abuse of INTERPOL Red Notices, coerced returns and unlawful deportations, and threats against family members who remain in the origin state. It has become increasingly apparent that these practices are not isolated incidents but coordinated systems of extraterritorial control, sustained by growing collaboration among authoritarian governments.

Across Europe and Eurasia, transnational repression has intensified, particularly in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and it operates alongside domestic tools of repression such as "foreign agent" designations, the abuse of counter-terrorism and extremism laws, and prosecutions of exiled critics in absentia. These practices violate international human rights norms, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and produce a profound chilling effect on civil society across borders.

Juridia's approach to transnational repression combines rigorous legal research with coalition-building that centers the communities directly affected by these tactics and tools. Our research documents how transnational repression functions across Europe and Eurasia by analyzing the statutory frameworks, administrative and criminal procedures, and other tools that states use to project control beyond their jurisdiction, while identifying the legal and policy responses available in host states, countries hosting people who were forced to flee due to repression at home.

We are also building a coalition that connects exiled journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society with organizations and practitioners in both the origin states where repression begins and the host states where targeted communities have resettled. The coalition serves as a platform to bring together people at risk along with individual professionals and organizations whose expertise centers on litigation and TNRs, and it works to strengthen protection for those at risk, improve the documentation of cases, and develop cross-border responses through litigation, advocacy, and accountability mechanisms.

Related Publications:

Beyond Borders: Transnational Repression as a System of Authoritarian Control in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan— Human Rights Brief, Vol. 29 (2026)