Russian FM representative: most countries share our rejection of neo-Nazism

During the History for Future: Russia and Belarus forum held in Minsk last week, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the recent scandal with an SS man in Canadian Parliament

“We believe that it is never too late to repent for friendship with Nazi collaborators, xenophobes and extremists. It is only necessary to do this sincerely, even if 40 or 70 years have passed. It is questionable, whether we have any illusions about possible words of remorse and regret from Ottawa and Washington addressed to us for their hospitality towards European fascists. There is also one more question: who will apologise? The descendants of Bandera have become part of the Western political elite. After all, we have been drawing the attention of the world community to the Canadian roots of Ukrainian neo-Nazism for many years. Local politicians, led by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, openly demonstrate support for Nazi ideology – posting UPA symbols on their accounts and social networks, for example. The Canadian elite alone, hiding behind black-and-red scarves, has spent more than $1bn on training Ukrainian extremists since 2014,” Ms. Zakharova said.

According to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the ‘maple leaf’ country has become a country of the ‘maple trident’, from under which the swastika is visible. Ms. Zakharova said that Belarus and Russia can oppose them – [using] ‘what helped our ancestors defeat the Nazis in 1945: unity and firm confidence in our own rightness’. “Most countries of the world share our rejection of neo-Nazism. This gives us strength in defending the historical truth,” she stressed.