Interaction of Party Structures of The EU and the Russian Federation in a Discourse of the Russian Left Forces on the Example of “A Just Russia” Party

Abstract

The article using “A Just Russia” case deals with the party strategies of the Russian left political forces for the creation of the relations with party structures of the European Union. Similar party strategy is at the same time a part of domestic policy and development of the Russian political processes, and at the same time, they are a part of the relationship with the European Union which is built up by Russia. Consequently, that is de facto a part of foreign policy activity. The novelty of the research consists in a combination of the research approaches used in a “partology” while considering a party to be a rational actor acting in conditions of a country political environment and the research approaches accepted in modern European studies. Parties act as internal political players, but at the same time and as contractors of foreign elite, in this case — party elite of the European Union, members of party groups of European Parliament, party Internationals, “the European parties” (earlier known under the term of “party at the European level”). From the Russian parliamentary political forces of several last electoral cycles “A Just Russia”, using a discourse of modern socialism, could establish more actively than others cooperation with European left, including influencing adoption of significant decisions in the EU, for example, on reform of the EU Gas Directive and the Third Energy Package of the EU. The party, through the prism of socialist ideology, is trying to bring together certain positions of the party elites of the Russian Federation and the EU, bringing differences on social avant-garde and identity politics out of the brackets. Therefore, it focuses recently on the problems of sanctions issues, considering its communication with the Party of European socialists and socialist groups in the European Parliament as another potentially popular diplomatic track for the country.