The Creeping Resurgence of the Ukrainian Radical Right? The Case of the Freedom Party

In the context of the rise of radical right-wing parties in most European countries, the enduring absence of a far-right group in the Ukrainian parliament seems paradoxical. However, recent developments, namely the victory of the far-right ‘Freedom’ Party (All-Ukrainian Union ‘Freedom’, Vseukrayins'ke ob”ednannya ‘Svoboda’) in the 2009 Ternopil regional elections seems to attest to the gradual revival of the radical right in Ukraine. The article considers the far-right legacy in Ukraine and the reasons why it failed in the post-Soviet period, and then focuses on the history of the Freedom Party and discusses its prospects at the national level.