Ukraine

The Socialist Party of Ukraine was founded in 1991. It called itself the successor to the Communist Party of Ukraine, but chose to form its own program and develop a new emphasis in its political activities. After the return of the Communist Party and the creation of the Progressive Socialist Party in 1993, the SPU lost its leftist monopoly. It also lost its ideological vestiges of the past and opted for reform. The new program underscored the need to carry out privatization, implement changes to the tax and criminal codes, fight corruption and introduce a pro-European foreign policy. The SPU calls itself democratic socialistic, but shows signs of social democracy.

After the Orange Revolution, which it supported, the SPU ran independently in the 2006 parliamentary elections. It received 33 seats in the Verkhovna Rada, and was part of the governing coalition. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, however, the party did not pass the threshold of 3 percent, winning only 2,86 percent of the votes. Analysts say this loss could perhaps be explained by disagreement within the potential SPU-electorate concerning the coalition-participation of the SPU after the 2006 elections. The fact that the SPU changed sides, leaving the Orange Revolution partners to join the coalition of Prime Minister Yanukovych (Party of Regions), was used by Timoshenko to portray the SPU and its leader as unreliable traitors.

On 17 and 18 December 2011 several minor parties merged with the SPU: the Farmer’s Party, All-Ukrainian Party ‘Children of War’, ‘Children of war National Party of Ukraine’ and the Kozak Fame party. Nonetheless, the party won 0.46 percent of the national votes in the parliamentary elections of 2012 and no constituencies, and thus failed again to pass the electoral threshold. The party did not participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections. 

The SPU is not an observer or associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the Progressive Alliance (PA). 

The Servent of the People party was created by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and was named after the popular TV series in which he played his most famous role: that of an ordinary school teacher who unexpectedly gets elected as President of Ukraine. The party does not have a clear ideology, and seems mostly focussed on eliminating corruption in the country. 

European Solidarity is the rebranded party of former President Petro Poroshenko, previously known as Bloc Petro Poroshenko, which had been created on 27 August 2014. Poroshenko presented his new party after his defeat in the presidential elections in April 2019, and in the run-up to the early parliamentary elections on July 21, announced by the new Preisdent Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The party has a central-right, conservative ideology.

Opposition Bloc Ukraine is a political party founded in 2014, and is mainly known as the party that has become the new political home of the de facto defunct Party of Regions, of ousted President Victor Yanukovich. In the latest parliamentary elections it won 29 seats, making it the 4^th largest party.  It was the successor of another party called “Leading force”, which was founded in 2010 but did not participate in the parliamentary elections of 2012.

The party started working on 14 September 2014, after a forum took place in Kiev based on Peace, Stability and revival, six parties who all did not want to endorse Euromaidan, decided to merge and take part in the 2014 parliamentary elections as Opposition Bloc. The six parties that decided to merge were: Party of Development of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Union “centre”, Ukraine-Forward!, Labour Ukraine, New politic and “state Neutrality”. Prior to the forum in Kiev, an American lobbyist called Paul Manafort was hired as an advisor to the presidential administration of Ukraine. Instead, he decided to argue to help stabilize Ukraine, and advised to create a new political party called Opposition Bloc. At the parliamentary elections, Yuriy Boyko headed the party’s election list, though he also mentioned that Opposition Bloc does not represent parties, but rather consists of only individual politicians. On 27 November 2014, an opposition bloc parliamentary faction of 40 people was formed. Following the 2015 local elections, Opposition Bloc was one of the winners.

Opposition Bloc is a social liberal party. It wants a non-aligned status for Ukraine and wants to prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO. They also want to protect Russian as a regional language, and want maximum decentralization.

As the core party of the former Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT), Batkyvschina has been in parliament since the 2002 parliamentary elections. After the November 2011 banning of the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections, the party became a major force in Ukrainian politics independently. In the 2012 parliamentary elections the party also added "United Opposition" to its name, aligning several other parties under its colours.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) was named after its leader and founder of the Fatherland Party (1999) Yulia Tymoshenko. After she was forced to step down in 2001, the Fatherland Party began to oppose presidential policies and Tymoshenko led the united opposition in 2001, creating the National Salvation Forum. The main goal of the forum was to form an electoral bloc aiming to oust President Kuchma. In November 2001, the bloc was renamed Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. It consisted of the Fatherland Party, Sobor Party, Social Democratic Party, Republican Party, Conservative Republican Party, Christian Democratic Party, and Patriotic Party. The bloc gained 7.2 percent in the 2002 elections. BYuT cooperated with Our Ukraine in the 2004 presidential elections, supporting Viktor Yushchenko’s candidacy. Once Yushchenko was appointed President after the Orange Revolution, Tymoshenko became Prime Minister. However, the cooperation faltered and finally resulted in Yushchenko sacking Tymoshenko on accusations of corruption. BYuT then ran independently in the 2006 parliamentary elections and became the second largest party, beating Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine. However, it went into opposition.

In the 2007 parliamentary elections, BYuT managed to stay the second biggest party in parliament, almost closing the gap with the Party of Regions. Shortly after the elections, it was announced that BYuT and the Our Ukraine – People’s Self Defense Bloc formed a coalition. Yulia Tymoshenko became the new Prime Minister. After Yanukovych won the presidential elections in 2010 and the parliament ousted Tymoshenko 's coalition in a no-confidence vote, Tymoshenko went into the opposition again. In order to obtain a majority in parliament, Yanukovych needed the support of several extra MPs. Eventually, some BYuT MPs joined his coalition.

Tymoshenko had to go to jail, after being found guilty of abuse of power and being sentenced to 7 years in prison. She also had other lawsuits running against her as well, connected to her time as prime minister.

After the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections was banned in 2011, Batkyvschina became the umbrella party with its election list including members of Reforms and Order Party, People's Movement of Ukraine, Front of Changes, For Ukraine, People's Self-Defense, Civil Position and Social Christian Party. In July 2012 members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People joined this list. This list named themselves United Opposition “Fatherland”. Because of the imprisonment of Tymoshenko at the time, Front for Change leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk headed the election list and is still the party's leader in parliament. The party remained the second largest in parliament after the 2012 elections (101 seats or 22.67 percent of the votes).

Tymoshenko was released from prison during the Maidan revolution of 2014, as Yanukovich was ousted, but hasn’t managed to regain the prominent role that she had in Ukrainian politics. She has been allied with the European People’s Party (EPP).

The Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) is a political party headed by Ukrainian professional heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko. In its current form the party was founded on 24 April 2010 on the basis of the Vitali Klitschko Bloc, a local political alliance in Kiev. The party has an anti-corruption and pro-European platform.

During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections the party gained about 400 representatives in municipalities and Oblast Councils (regional parliaments). The party’s election list was a mixture of candidates who used to represent parties from all over the political spectrum of Ukraine.

In July 2012, party leader Klitschko stated that his party would not cooperate with the Party of Regions in the new parliament. In the 2012 parliamentary elections UDAR won 13.97 percent of the national votes and 6 constituencies and thus 40 parliamentary seats. During the Maidan revolution, Klitschko was one of the political leaders representing the Maidan at talks with Yanukovich and the European leaders.

The All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda” (“Freedom”) was formed in February 2004 with the arrival of Oleh Tyahnybok as party leader. The party is the successor of the Social-National Party. Svoboda is a Ukrainian nationalist party that often voices opposition to perceived Russian influences in Ukraine. The party is known for its anti-communist stance, and several party activists over the years have been accused of trying to destroy communist-era statues. The party views the dominating role of Ukraine's oligarchy as "devastating". While oligarchs have typically played a major role in the funding of other Ukrainian parties, Svoboda claims to receive no financial support from oligarchs, but rather from Ukraine's small and medium-sized businesses.

The party has been accused of racism and anti-Semitism, which it denies. Party leader Tyahnybok stated in November 2012 that “Svoboda is neither an anti-Semitic nor a xenophobic party nor an anti-Russian party. Svoboda is also not an anti-European party. Svoboda is simply and only a pro-Ukrainian party”. This “pro-Ukrainian” element can be seen in Svoboda's political program; the party wants to ban adoptions by non-Ukrainians of Ukrainian children, wants to abolish Crimean autonomy and is in favor of criminal prosecution for 'Ukrainophobia'.

Svoboda went up from a marginal regional party to a power represented in the parliament within only a few years. Its national success was preceded by a local success, which analysts explain as a result of the policies of the Azarov government, who were seen as too pro-Russian by the electorate.

In the 2012 parliamentary elections the party’s results where much higher than expected, with 10,44 percent (almost a fourteenfold of its votes compared with the 2007 parliamentary elections) of votes and 38 out of 450 seats in the Ukrainian parliament. In the 2014 elections the party only gained 4.71 percent, or 6 seats.

The Our Ukraine Bloc was officially formed in February 2002 and united ten nationalist and centre-right parties that emerged during the time Ukraine gained independence. The gathered parties historically all had an anti-communist rhetoric and their goals broadly were to keep distance from Russia and strengthen Ukraine’s statehood. The bloc’s priorities are a significant increase in the wellbeing of the majority of Ukraine’s citizens; a strong economy and effective social protection; a just society and the establishment of a moral and honest government. The bloc supports the integration of Ukraine into the EU and NATO.

In 2004 the Our Ukraine bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc united forces in the presidential elections, both backing Yushchenko’s candidacy in the Orange Revolution. On 26 December 2004 Our Ukraine’s leader Viktor Yushchenko was elected as president. On 5 March 2005, parts of the Our Ukraine Bloc consolidated into a new party, the Our Ukraine People's Union. For the 2007 parliamentary elections the Bloc changed its name into Our Ukraine – People’s Self Defence Bloc, merging with the People’s Self Defence Party.

After Yanukovych won the presidential elections in 2010 and the parliament ousted Tymoshenko's ruling coalition, several MPs of the Tymoshenko bloc decided to join the new governing coalition of Yanukovych. Then outgoing President Yushchenko only obtained 5.45 percent of the votes in the first round, not even coming close to the second round of the presidential elections. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, the party did not manage to pass the 5 percent threshold. In the 2014 elections the party did not participate

Viktor Yushchenko remains the leader of the party. The party tries to transform its image from right wing nationalist to liberal. Our Ukraine has an observer status at the European People’s Party.

The Communist Party is the successor of the Soviet Communist Party. Its main supporters are elderly and pensioners. Between 1991 and 1993 the party was temporarily forbidden. With the country’s economy in decline, it grew in popularity and re-emerged during the 1994 parliamentary elections. The CPU received a lot of protest votes, however, analysts predicted a decline because of aging of their electorate and the outdating of their Soviet nostalgia. In the 2002 elections they were cut by half, winning just 65 of the 450 seats in parliament. After the 2006 elections, it had only 21 seats, but in the 2007 elections, the party regained some seats, winning a total of 27 seats in the Rada. In 2010, the Communists joined the governing coalition of President Yanukovych, after signing an agreement with the Party of Regions and the Lytvyn Bloc.

The communists are loosening their Soviet style arguments and argue for respect for private business, freedom of religion, a multi-party system and foreign investments. According to their leader Petro Symonenko state policy should be based on balancing real incomes and expenditures, with the surplus spent on services like education and healthcare. They are against Ukrainian NATO membership.