It may be a far cry from Vladimir Lenin's Comintern.
But hey, there's still time.
Over the past three months, the ruling United Russia party has signed formal agreements with two far-right European parties: Italy's Northern League this week and Austria's Freedom Party in December.
And reports surfaced this week that a third agreement is in the works with Italy's Euroskeptic Five Star Movement.
The Kremlin's courtship of Europe's antiestablishment forces has, of course, been going on for years.
And now Vladimir Putin's regime seems ready to start formalizing these partnerships.
On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we look at what this means going forward as Europe heads into a year of crucial elections.
Joining me are co-host Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and author of the blog In Moscow's Shadows; and Anton Shekhovtsov, a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences and author of the forthcoming book Russia And The Western Far Right.
Also on the podcast, Mark, Anton, and I discuss Aleksei Navalny's latest report exposing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's vast property empire.
Enjoy...
Listen to or download the podcast above or subscribe to The Power Vertical Podcast on iTunes.
