INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS The Extreme Right in Ukraine MRIDULA GHOSH October 2012 n The major political forces in Ukraine do not have a well-articulated ideology. An analysis of the gradual emergence of the Svoboda(Freedom) party into the political mainstream since 2001 and as a contender in the October 2012 parliamentary elec­tions reveals that this party is the flagship of core extreme right ideology. n The economic crises, unemployment and corruption have enabled Svoboda to add a socioeconomic dimension to its ultra-nationalist agenda as well as to expand its out ­reach by communicating with the grassroots rather than via elite lobby politics. This has helped Svoboda to gain power in regional legislative bodies in Western Ukraine. n Instead of distancing themselves from the rhetoric of Svoboda, the mainstream po­litical parties have entered into situation-dependent and other tacit alliances with it, either in order to win the nationalist vote or to showcase Svoboda as an»enemy« of democracy while presenting them as the only democratic alternative. The lack of consensus among the major political actors on how to combat right-wing extremist ideas has legitimised Svoboda in the public perception. n Civil society has provided some counter-strategies to the Svoboda party. However, in the absence of political consensus, these efforts have proved feeble and futile. To raise awareness of the inadmissibility of right-wing extremism in mainstream poli ­tics, it is necessary to turn to the substantive socioeconomic elements of participa­tory governance.