The 2019 European elections saw the erosion of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) standing in the European Parliament. Of all the groups to fill this political vacuum, one of the more concerning is a coalition of nationalist and far-right parties known as Identity and Democracy (ID). This article will examine how ID’s presence in the European Parliament may act as a vehicle towards rapprochement between the European Union and the Russian Federation sought by Lega Nord, Alternative for Germany, and other parties in ID’s coalition. This analysis is structured around the role of the parliament in the formation of the European Union’s strategic goals and foreign policy. This article will investigate ID’s specific policy objectives in pursuing European-Russian rapprochement based on policy positions put forth by parties in the coalition and personal interests of prominent ID members. This article will then describe how ID’s presence in the European Parliament would influence Ukraine’s ongoing process of European integration and the EU-Ukraine relations as a whole.
THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN-RUSSIAN RAPPROCHEMENT BY THE IDENTITY AND DEMOCRACY PARTY ON UKRAINIAN-EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
