On the Situation One Year after Putin's Re-Election
A year has passed since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency, but the promised opening up of the political system has not materialised. Instead, the Russian state is making vigorous attempts to extend its influence over society and restrict the scope for democracy for example by complicating the work of NGOs. In doing so, the Kremlin is not only harming Russian civil society and the political opposition but also increasingly isolating itself from its political partners in the west.
