Navalny’s Ethnic Prejudices May Not have Changed but His Use of Nationalist Rhetoric Has, Verkhovsky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, February 1 – Many non-Russians especially in the North Caucasus did not respond to Aleksey Navalny’s appeal to protest because they remember his Russian nationalist rhetoric about them from a decade ago. Since then, Aleksandr Verkhovsky says, the opposition leader may not have changed his ethnic prejudices but he has changed his public statements.

            In an interview he gave to Alisa Volkova of Radio Liberty, the head of the SOVA Information-Analytic Center says that a decade ago, when Russian nationalists seemed on the rise, Navalny did reach out to them by using their language, including the idea that Russia must “stop feeding the Caucasus” (kavkazr.com/a/31075519.html).

            That populist rhetoric appeared to promise to bring him support, Verkhovsky continues; but when it didn’t, when Russian nationalism faded, Navalny turned to more general anti-corruption and democratic issues. As a result, most of his “Russian nationalist texts” some remember or refer to are from the more or less distant past.

            “This doesn’t mean that he has changed his views; simply that [nationalist ones] have become for him less important and significant,” the SOVA analyst says. Indeed, “Navalny has definite ethnic prejudices” as shown by his comments when he is speaking at large rather than from a prepared text.

            What has happened is this, Verkhovsky says. Navalny is a politician, and he understands that being branded now with the term nationalist works against his ability to mobilize people more generally. Even for most Russians, the term “nationalist” has negative connotations; and so he has changed his public posture.