For years Yuliya Navalnaya has followed her husband in his political work. That she is now emerging as his possible successor is in many ways expected, says Stefan Ingvarsson, analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies.
– She is a well-educated professional person who was Alexei Navalny’s closest adviser. She has always been half a step behind him, he says in SVT’s Morgonstudion.
– It sounds terrible, but it feels like this is a plan B that they have agreed on.
“A new face”
In a social media clip released on Monday, Navalnaya signaled that she is now ready to shoulder her husband’s mantle. In the speech, she urged opposition supporters to “continue to fight the Kremlin with even more fury than before.”
– There has been great sadness among those who want to see a different Russia and a feeling that they are now abandoned. The reactions when she entered show that this was what everyone was hoping for. You can probably say that the opposition in Russia has a new face, says Stefan Ingvarsson.
“Symbolic gathering point”
Now the question remains: Can she lead an opposition movement in exile?
– In any case, Yulia Navalnaya can probably become the symbolic rallying point around which those who want to strive towards an open pluralistic Russia can gather, says Ingvarsson.