Inter-parliamentary cooperation in post-Soviet space: exploring blind spots of regional dynamics

The chapter aims to bridge the knowledge gap about the role of parliaments and inter-parliamentary cooperation in the EU-Russia shared neighbourhood. The regional competition is usually analysed from the point of view of executive power. Yet, the study argues that the regional competition has expanded to various levels, including parliamentary arena. Having previously analysed the role of Euronest, the EU-initiated regional parliamentary assembly (Petrova and Raube 2016), the chapter provides an in-depth analysis of Russia-led regional parliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership member states. Focusing on political, economic and security cooperation, we conclude that Russian foreign policy objectives are advanced through the regional inter-parliamentary cooperation. In particular, this arena allows Russia to promote own international narrative, legitimise political regimes in the member states and promote regional integration through adoption of model legislation.status: publishe