Russian opposition leaders meet in Brussels, fail to unite against Putin. Here's why

Opposition leaders in Russia are failing to unite against President Vladimir Putin. According to a report by the Financial Times on Saturday (June 10), opposition leaders gathered in Brussels to plot a path back to democracy, with Putin's main rivals in jail or exiled and squabbling about how to move forward. But rather than uniting Russia’s liberals, Moscow's invasion of Ukraine deepened existing rifts and added new controversies. 

Andrius Kubilius, a Lithuanian politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), who invited Russian opposition leaders to the European Parliament, said, "They have these infights, and maybe it will take some time. It would be good if they were able to show more unity around some kind of strategy."

The report said that though the European Union (EU) hoped to bring the Russian opposition together, the splits were yet again on display when followers of jailed anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, refused to take part in parliament's event. 

Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s longtime chief of staff, said that Navalny's anti-corruption foundation declined invitations to the event for fear of being “in the same boat” with rival opposition activists who did not share their views. 

Senior officials of the EU who were part of the event sought to cajole the opposition into crafting a cogent plan for democracy and rallying Russians against the Ukraine war.

“We want to work with Russia, but a different Russia,” said Michael Siebert, Eastern Europe and Central Asia director for the EU diplomatic service. However, the opposition remains divided on how to achieve that different Russia and who would lead it. 

Navalny's group blamed for perpetuating conflict situations

Exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky blamed Navalny's foundation for perpetuating conflict situations, the Financial Times report said.

"In their minds, there can only be the leader. It doesn’t fit [in] their worldview that you can have lots of leaders — that this room is full of them," Khodorkovsky said, adding the war in Ukraine put Navalny’s team on an equal footing with the rest of the opposition. 

“I have nothing against impotency. Wanting to work with people who are in Russia is great. But we can see from [the small pro-Navalny rally] that they can’t do it under a totalitarian regime either,” the opposition activist added. 

Navalny has been in jail since 2021, and anyone who associates with his group against the war faces potential arrest. This has made it difficult for his group to stage rallies. 

Vladimir Milov, who informally advises Navalny but is not part of the foundation, said that “they have this huge, political capital, developed with blood, sweat, and tears” and the prospect of being just one of many opposition groups was simply not appealing to them, the report also said. 

Meanwhile, Oleksiy Arestovich, a former senior Ukrainian official implored the parliament event's attendees to patch up their differences. Arestovich said that he talks a lot to the Russian opposition, adding every second sentence starts with a complaint about other members (of the opposition). 

 “If you have a common goal, like an open, democratic Russia, that should be enough of a basis to work together,” Arestovich said. 

 

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