What’s Left of the Left in Central and Eastern Europe?
... and religious/cultural traditions) would place them closer to conservative parties (it is no coincidence that United Russia sits in the conservative ‘European Democrat Group’ in the Parliamentary Committee of the Council of Europe). Of the left-wing groups, the social democrats and Greens (in particular) tend to place a stronger normative accent on human rights issues, meaning that they are no less critical of Russia than many liberal parties (for example, it is the Greens that have voiced most dissatisfaction with Russia over the Pussy Riot case). Perhaps paradoxically, it is the radical left that ...