... (admittedly modest) benefits: for example, the Afghan government was one of the few governments that de facto supported the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Moscow’s reluctance to side with any of the main candidates in the 2014 presidential elections reflects the increasingly balanced Russian approach to internal Afghan problems. Moreover, unofficially Moscow would welcome a coalition government and rule (for example, one of the two main contenders, be it Abdullah Abdullah or Ashraf Ghani, one as president and the other as prime minister)....
... can choose at an election to determine that none of the candidates that are running for office reflects voter’s interests, or simply said it is an option to bespeak disapproval against all candidates. This curious new-but-old option, in case of Russian elections, is presently discussed in Russian Duma and I believe that this question deserves some more analysis with some extra flavor of political science.
Domestic and International Practice
Let’s start with few facts: For elections to Duma, ...
Compelled to Reset
Accession of the Georgian Dream opposition alliance to power by way of parliamentary elections gives rise to prospects for sweeping renewal of bilateral relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. Opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili made public his intentions “
to find points of contact
” with Russia, which lie primarily in the spheres of economy and culture. To normalize bilateral ties, he also expressed readiness to revoke a number of anti-Russian foreign policy activities, namely the attempts to
disrupt the Olympic Games in Sochi
. What ...
... Representative to NATO. The Social Democrats are equally highly cautious in their criticism of energy-related projects originated by the conservatives.
Thus one can hardly expect any drastic changes in Lithuanian foreign policy, including in its relations with Russia, following the parliamentary elections. However, it is reasonable to assume that the Social-Democratic coalition would at least not aggravate the bilateral agenda, and would pursue a more pragmatic policy devoid of confrontational rhetoric in its dealings with Russia. This would ...
