Comfortable bed-fellows? Russia and the radical right after the Crimean annexation
Date
2018
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
This study examines the radical rightist stances of the Alternative für Deutschland
(AfD), the Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ), the Front National (FN), Jobbik
Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), the UK Independence Party (UKIP), and the
Vlaams Belang (VB) on Russia in the light of the Ukrainian crisis, in particularly the
Crimean crisis. A focus will be placed on the radical right’s foreign policy agenda, and
how this shaped their perspective towards Russia. In the past, the scholarship in this
field has mostly ignored this topic in favour of analysing the internal dimension. Over
the last couple years, the field has expanded to include external factors, such as
Euroscepticism and Russophilia. However, most research chose to heavily feature anti-
EU sentiments. Thus, questions regarding the relationship between Russia and the
radical right remained unanswered. Through an analysis of party programs, voting
patterns, and debates in the European Parliament, this thesis measures how and to what
extend pro-Russian sentiments have manifested in the external dimension of the radical
right. Additionally, patterns of pro-Russian and/or anti-Russian stances, are used to
complement this analysis. Regardless of their attitude towards Russia, the findings
suggest that the Russian Federation has recently started to appear on the radical right
foreign policy agenda. In regard to the FN, the FPÖ, and Jobbik similar pragmatic and
Eurosceptic arguments were brought forward to indicate a positive stance towards
Russia. The VB supports some of these pragmatic principles as well, but generally
perceives Russia in more neutral terms. Finally, those that are critical of the Russian
Federation, primarily the AfD and UKIP, tend to use diverging reasons to support their
view. As a consequence, patterns on radical right-Russia relations present a rather
mixed perspective.