On March 26, GMF in partnership with the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) hosted a roundtable discussion with Vladimir Ashurkov, a partner of the Russian anti-corruption campaigner and informal leader of the recent Moscow demonstrations, Alexey Navalny. Ashurkov, who is an opposition activist and the executive director of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, was until recently a senior executive at the Alfa Group, a privately owned financial-industrial conglomerate.

Ashurkov described the nature of the protests that followed the Duma elections last December and his expectations for how the civic movement would continue to develop throughout Russia against the backdrop of Alexey Navalny’s efforts to uncover and raise awareness about corruption.

According to Ashurkov, the last ten years were the most free and prosperous in Russian history but he argued that the system of buying loyalty, which was established in the nineties, prevented Russia from developing further.

In a lively discussion with representatives from European institutions and think tanks, Ashurkov replied to questions and commented on the evolving political landscape, and the role of nationalism among the Russian opposition and civic movement.