A European Union official, whose own family left Russia in 1993, is warning that a "worse-than-Putin" politician could take over the country if democratic alternatives are unable to mount a real challenge to the regime of President Vladimir Putin.
Sergey Lagodinsky, a member of the European Parliament for the German Greens party, is urging the world to "take seriously an antidemocratic, worse-than-Putin alternative."
"It will be important—and challenging—to present a viable democratic alternative to a much worse alternative when things will be changing," Lagodinsky told Foreign Policy on Monday. "You need faces—strong leaders and politicians who offer themselves as alternatives."
Despite there being a number of vocal Putin dissidents, few have been able to amass a following like opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
However, Navalny, who has organized several anti-government demonstrations in Russia and who is one of Putin's greatest rivals, is currently serving a 13-year sentence on charges of fraud and contempt of court. Most of his allies have either fled the country or are also jailed at home.
Lagodinsky, who has known Navalny for more than a decade, said the political activist returned to Russia because his political life was so ingrained in the country but that he had not expected the Kremlin to eradicate his political organization, the Russia of the Future party.
Like Navalny, Lagodinsky has been critical of Putin, especially in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A month after the war began, the German member of Parliament accused EU politicians of repeatedly giving Putin a pass in an op-ed, and urged the bloc to hold themselves accountable for being politically responsible for the conflict in Ukraine.
"We need to remember the lessons from the past for our own future: Even if you have to live side by side with dictators, you don't have to finance, justify or copy them. What we really need is a de-Putinisation. We must de-Putinise ourselves," Lagodinsky wrote for The Parliament Magazine on March 24.
On Monday, he suggested that the Kremlin's opponents establish an office abroad so that they can speak to Western leaders about the issues back home.
Lyubov Sobol, a Navalny ally who fled Russia last year, said the two goals of opposition politicians are "to reduce Putin's legitimacy and increase trust in our democratic movement."
"There will be a lot of political turmoil after Putin. Anyone will be able to take part," Sobol told Foreign Policy. "But having the resources of a well-known name, media outlets, and followers is useful."
"We aren't waiting for the fall of the regime," she added. "We're actively working toward it and want to get there as fast as possible."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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