ROGOZIN, Dmitry Olegovich
Russian Ambassador to NATO

Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin (Дмитрий Олегович Рогозин) is Russia’s ambassador to NATO, an outspoken nationalist and former leader of the Rodina Party. He was appointed to the NATO post in January 2008. Two years earlier, he had been pushed out of national politics as head of Rodina at a time when the part wielded increasing influence in national politics.

Early Life and Personal

Rogozin was born in Moscow on Dec. 21, 1963. His father was a prominent military historian. He played sports, basketball and handball, and studied French language intensely. In 1986, he graduated with a degree in international journalism from Moscow State University and began working for the Committee on Youth Organizations of the Soviet Union. In 1988, he received a degree in economics and later went on to a doctorate in philosophy in 1996. He wrote his dissertation on "The Russian Question and Its Influence on National and International Safety."

Rogozin speaks French, Italian, Spanish and English to some degree. He is married with a son and a grandson.

Early Political Career

In 1990, Rogozin was chosen as president of the Association of Young Political Leaders of the Soviet Union, otherwise known as Forum-90. This group and others sought to bring together politically active youths on the center-right. Rogozin was one of the founders of the Congress of Russian Communities, a political movement dedicated to voicing the concerns of ethnic Russians and pushing nationalist causes.

In the parliamentary elections of Decmeber 1995, Rogozin appeared on the party's list of candidates for the State Duma. Though it appeared that the party would cross the 5 percent threshold to gain seats, they fell short with 4.3 percent of the vote. One year later, Rogozin threw his support behind General Alexander Lebed, who came in third, losing to Boris Yeltsin. The general would later fall out with the Congress of Russian Communities, and when he sought office later, they ran against him.

In 1997, Rogozin struck out on his own in a special election for a single-mandate seat in the Voronezh district, which he won.

Duma Career 

In the Duma, Rogozin aligned himself with "Russian Regions." In this group he was elected a deputy head for nationalism. In 1999, he associated himself again with the Congress of Russian Communities, but the party failed to pull in even 1 percent of the vote. Still under his single mandate, Rogozin became a member of a group known as People's Deputies, a group of deputies who had been elected on single mandates, and was appointed chairman of the Duma's Committee on Foreign Affairs. From 2002 to 2004, he was the Russian president's special envoy dealing with relations between the European Union and the Kaliningrad exclave.

In September 2003, he was voted the leader of the Rodina party, which carried the banner of nationalism as its central platform. The party won slightly more than 9 percent of the popular vote and collected 37 of the 450 seats in the Duma in 2003 parliamentary election. Rogozin became an outspoken critic of United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party that currently dominates the State Duma.

Rogozin was forced out as leader of Rodina in 2006, shortly after the party merged with the Party of Life and the Pensioners' Party to form A Just Russia. The structure of the Rodina party was largely dismantled and A Just Russia now holds a modest number of seats in the State Duma where United Russia dominates. After stepping down, Rogozin worked with the controversial Movement Against Illegal Immigration, championing the rights of ethnic Russians and organizing nationalist demonstrations

Ambassador to NATO

In January 2008, Rogozin replaced General Konstantin Totsky as NATO envoy. His appointment was seen as an extension of President Vladimir Putin's combative tone with the West and NATO, specifically. As a strong voice for Russian interests and nationalism, his tenure has been marked by little shift in tone but a continuation of Putin's rhetoric in principle.

Sources:

Rogozin's Official Web site (In Russian)
The Associated Press, Putin picks Dmitry Rogozin, a leading nationalist, to be NATO envoy, Jan. 10, 2008
The Jamestown Foundation, Dmitry Rogozin Becomes Rodina's Sole Leader, July 9, 2004
 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Dmitrii Rogozin: Playing The Single-Mandate Card, Laura Belin
Dmitry Rogozin Biography (In Russian), Lenta.ru

Compiled By: Grant Slater

Last Updated: April 1, 2008