November 2015 19/2015

Veera Laine Research Fellow The Finnish Institute of International Affairs

No more marching > The Kremlin suppresses nationalist movements in order to achieve a like-minded society

The radical nationalists in have become internally divided after the crisis, while support for their causes among the wider public has diminished. At the same time, the regime is tightening its grip on the nationalists, indicating that it no longer tolerates political contention.

In Russia, the 4th of November tried to avoid references to the situa- as “returning Russia to ” or marked the Day of National Unity, tion in Ukraine. “Stop feeding Caucasus” – have lost when extreme nationalists once All in all, the developments in the their significance. again gathered in the suburbs of international arena have shifted the In short, not only have the na- Moscow in a demonstration called nationalists’ attention away from tionalists become internally weaker, Russian march. The event is a their earlier key claims related to but the Russians no longer find their platform for the xenophobic, anti- ethnicity issues, and migration in political demands that interesting. establishment nationalist groups particular. It seems that the threat posed by to vent their feelings. Traditionally, This also holds true for the wider nationalists to the stability of society the marchers have chanted slogans public: Levada surveys conducted in has thus diminished. mainly against the government and August 2015 reveal that the xeno- Yet the state is increasing its migrants, often with an explicit phobic attitudes towards migrants control over the anti-establishment xenophobic and racist tone. have decreased from previous nationalists. One of the key figures of A year ago, there were almost years. Whereas in late 2013, 62 per the Russian march, Aleksandr Belov, 2,000 participants, which was cent of respondents held negative was arrested over a year ago and already significantly less than in feelings towards migrants coming remains in custody at least until his earlier years. This time the event from Central Asian countries to their court hearing in January 2016. He had shrunken into a meeting of only region, this autumn the proportion is charged with embezzlement and 500-1,000 demonstrators. At the was 37 per cent. It should be noted, inciting ethnic hatred, among other same time, the official celebration however, that this is largely a result things. of the Day of National Unity in the of growing indifference towards the Dmitri Demushkin, another centre of the city drew 85,000 whole issue, and not so much about leader of the march, has also been participants. an increase in more positive senti- detained several times during the Russian nationalists have never ments. course of this year – the latest arrest been a unified movement, and the Moreover, because of the legisla- took place on November 3rd, on the Ukraine crisis only served to create tive restrictions on the registration eve of the Russian march. Also the new dividing lines between the of migrant workers, as well as the “Russians” (Russkie) movement was groups. Some of the nationalists sup- weakening rouble, many Central banned a week before this year’s ported the Maidan demonstrations in Asian migrants had already left Russian march by the Moscow city Kiev, whereas others were sympa- Russia, and especially its big cities, court for being extremist. These thetic towards the “Russian spring” by the end of 2014 and early 2015 measures clearly seem to be pre- taking place in eastern Ukraine. – a phenomenon that the media emptive ones conducted by the The Russian media has reported on labelled the “exodus” of migrant regime. Russian nationalists who have left to workers. Due to the return of the It is not the measures as such that fight in Ukraine, on both sides of the migrants, it seems that the political are surprising here but rather their front. This year, the Russian march slogans of the nationalists – such timing: why would the state want to 2

Finnish Institute of use resources to fight a threat that However, it will only function as International Affairs seems limited in the first place? Until long as the new nationalist actors Kruunuvuorenkatu 4 this year, the nationalists had been remain loyal and accept the regime’s POB 400 able to function rather freely, even framing of nationalism. 00161 Helsinki if there had already been grounds to The other, perhaps more sig- interpret their actions as extremist. nificant reason for the increased Telephone One of the reasons for the tight- repression of the nationalists is +358 (0)9 432 7000 ened state control is that the state that the regime is tightening its itself has been using the nationalist grip over the whole societal space. Fax argument increasingly actively. The Tolerance towards any political +358 (0)9 432 7799 regime has been promoting the contention, even disagreement, is idea of a unified Russian nation that decreasing. Non-governmental www.f iia.f i shares the traditional, righteous organisations have been struggling values. The state is protecting the with the regime’s suspicions for a people against an external threat. long time, but now the uncertainty So it is not nationalism that is being has become more widespread – it is controlled, but those national- no longer only the “foreign agents” ists that are critical of the current that are repressed, but also marginal leadership. and fragmented groups represent- At the same time, more compliant ing any sort of discontent. One nationalist actors and movements important feature of the strategy is have emerged in the societal space. that the restricting laws are vaguely For instance, a National Liberation formulated, which makes selective Movement with a connection to the and politically intentional judicial has been set up and is measures possible. actively organising events to support Previously, the controlling the official interpretation of Russian measures had been targeted mainly The Finnish Institute of International Affairs is an nationalism. What is more, the at the oppositional figures. Growing independent research institute that produces high-level research to support political decision-making and conservative and pro-government repression towards extreme – but public debate both nationally and internationally. party, Rodina, has become more marginal – nationalists shows that visible in the public space lately. the state has its sights set on a like- All manuscripts are reviewed by at least two other Both movements were also repre- minded society. experts in the field to ensure the high quality sented yesterday at the official Day of of the publications. In addition, publications National Unity celebration. undergo professional language checking and editing. The responsibility for the views The strategy might work from expressed ultimately rests with the authors. the point of view of the regime.