By Catherine Owen.

Russia specialist Catherine Owen gives the FPC her take on unfolding political events in Russia, following the December 4th Duma elections. She examines the voting problems and the response of both the ruling elite and nascent opposition.

Download the article (330 kilobyte PDF)

By Tanweer Ali.

In a new FPC Briefing Tanweer Ali examines worrying trends in human rights standards in the Czech Republic.

Download FPC Briefing: Human Rights in the Czech Republic (220 kilobyte PDF)

Jennifer Moll (ed.)

August 2005

Download Blueprint for Russia (250 kilobyte PDF)

This FPC publication explores political change in Russia. It is now available for purchase and will be launched at the FPC's Fringe Event at the Labour Party Conference.

Utilising each author's expertise, this pamphlet compiles a broad range of opinions to outline a Blueprint for Russia. The contributions focus on political change in Russia as it relates to the three key policy areas of law, the economy and political pluralism.

Further information 

Raffaella Murano

July 2005

Download Political Abuse of Judicial Process in Europe's East (110 kilobyte PDF)

This policy brief outlines some of the negative trends in rule of law compliance in the CIS, examining Russia, Ukraine and giving special consideration to the Republic of Moldova and the case of former Defence Minister, Valeriu Pasat. These negative trends represent a new pattern, whereby leaders are abusing newly constructed judicial systems to achieve extra-judicial, political goals.

CIS leaders must act now to regain the trust of their citizens by making sweeping changes, both physically and functionally to judicial systems. Other European countries and their multilateral institutions (EU, CoE and OSCE) need to acknowledge the emerging negative trend of judicial abuse and deliver both political incentives and assistance programmes more likely to have strategic effects on the practices of CIS judicial systems.

Oleg Panfilov

June 2005

Download the report (160 kilobyte PDF)

The re-emergence of the traditions of Soviet propaganda since 2000 represents a new era for the Russian media and domestic policy. This development has been facilitated by the dominance of Soviet-era journalists: up to 70 per cent of those currently working in the mass media in Russia were Soviet educated or employed by the Soviet media, where propaganda and counter-propaganda were considered an important part of state ideology.

Further information 

Date: Wednesday April 20th 6pm-7.30pm (with drinks afterwards)

Venue: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Room (off Westminster Hall), Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA

Chair: Con Coughlin, Executive Foreign Editor, Daily Telegraph

Respondent: Dr Rachel Polonsky, University of Cambridge and author of Molotov's Magic Lantern: A Journey in Russian History

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

The Foreign Policy Centre is hosting an 'in conversation with'-style event with the acclaimed Russian author Lyudmila Ulitskaya (her many awards include the Russian Booker and she was an International Booker nominee in 2009). Her work covers a range of issues but has a major focus on identity, particularly gender and religion and the role of Russia's intelligentsia and elites. Her books include Kukotsky Case, Daniel Stein, Translator and Medea's Children. In 2009 she attracted both controversy and acclaim with the publication of her exchange of letters with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dialogues with Lyudmila Ulitskaya.

During this event, she will give her views on the current state of Russian society and politics, exploring the some of the undercurrents in Russian culture and how they shape the political environment and vice versa. She will also discuss the issues of political and personal freedom, with reference to the political situation in the lead up to the 2012 elections.

Download In conversation with Lyudmila Ulitskaya (140 kilobyte PDF)

Tuesday 9th February 2010, 4.00pm–5.30pm, Committee Room 18, House of Commons, London, SW1 0AA, SW1A 2JH. NB. Change of Venue

The All Party Parliamentary Russia Group, The EU-Russia Centre & The Foreign Policy Centre cordially invite you to a seminar on:

The Russian Judiciary - Priorities for Change in a New Decade

Guest Speakers:

• Ms Olga Borisovna Kudeshkina, Former Judge of the Moscow City Court
• Professor Alena Ledeneva, Professor of Politics and Society at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College London.
• Chair: Bob Wareing MP, Treasurer, Russia APPG

RSVP : gd@eu-russiacentre.org

Info: Olga Kudeshkina was a Russian judge for over 20 years until 2004 when, as a Moscow City Court Judge, she was dismissed over her statements to public media where she claimed to have come under pressure from the Moscow City Court chairman and the Prosecutor General's Office in a high-profile criminal case. Subsequently, the European Court on Human Rights upheld Ms Kudeshkina's complaint and ruled that her dismissal from office was a violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the Russian Constitution. In 2003 Ms Kudeshkina stood as a candidate in the general election for seats in the Duma, the parliament of the Russian Federation and included a programme for reform of the judiciary on her platform.

Download Invitation to The Russian Judiciary- Priorities for Change (70 kilobyte PDF)

Date: Wednesday 14th May 2008, 9.30-3.30pm

Speakers included:

• Boris Nemtsov, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia
• Ed Lucas, The Economist and Author of 'The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces Both Russia and the West'
• David Clark, Chair, The Russia Foundation
• Akhmed Zakaev, Prime Minister, Resistance Government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
• Tony Wood, Writer & Author
• Andrei Piontkovsky, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic Studies, Moscow

Taking place only days after Dimitry Medvedev formally took over as President of the Russian Federation, this Chechnya Peace Forum and Foreign Policy Centre event focused on what is happening in Russia today, with sessions on democracy and politics, civil liberties and the rule of law, Russian policy in Chechnya and the Caucasus and Russian influence on the world stage.

Download the full programme at: http://www.chechnyapeaceforum.com/upload/home_text_13.pdf

Download the Invitation (50 kilobyte PDF)