As the world prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, Ukraine’s lawmakers have vowed to pass a “decommunization” law banning Soviet Union “symbols and propaganda”, equating beliefs of victors to those of the Nazi ideology.
“Before May 9th,
parliament will pass a decommunization package,”Justice Minister Pavel Petrenko
promised on national television.
For millions of people across the world, and especially the
former Soviet states, whose grandparents fought under the
communist Soviet Union flags against the Nazi yoke, May 9th is
the official holiday and day of celebrations of victory over
Nazism. More than 27
million Soviet citizens died in the four years fighting Nazi
invasion of the communist Soviet Union.
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Nevertheless, revoking all mentions of communism “is
something we should have done 20 years ago,” the minister
insists, stressing that he is “convinced that the present
parliament has the sufficient political will and the votes”
to effectively ban communism ideology in the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called “cynical decision” of Kiev
to ban communism … https://t.co/zR7ZR60wOG pic.twitter.com/lnHxVm6cHU
— Viktoria (@Ukropo4kA) April
5, 2015
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on
Ukrainian Rada to “adopt these laws, and to finally ban
communist and Nazi ideologies as twin brothers opposed to
humanity.”
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The initiative to ban all forms of extreme left or extreme right
ideologies is the brainchild of the new Ukrainian government,
that is trying its best to break away from the Soviet past. The
draft legislation was hammered out by the Institute for National
Remembrance – a body set up by former President Yushchenko after
the previous 2004 revolution and tasked with reinventing the
“real” history of Ukrainian nation. The draft
legislation was then pushed forward by the Cabinet of Ministers.
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The proposals under the new law include equating communism to
Nazism but at the same time granting an official recognition to
the so-called “freedom fighters” who collaborated with
Nazis and eventually raped, tortured and murders thousands of
their fellow nationals.
WWII Veterans Ask Merkel to Explain #Western#Silence
Over #Nazism in
#Ukrainehttp://t.co/9I92hLuybYpic.twitter.com/tjrpkqibCm
— Greg Galloway (@NewsCoverUp) January
24, 2015
The lawmakers initiative
will also see the Victory Day moved to May 8th, apparently to
celebrate together with “real” Europeans. And on May 9th,
lawmakers hope to create a new sorrowful holiday
–the Day of
Remembrance and Reconciliation.
Equating communism with Nazism “is a highly cynical
position,” Russian Foreign Ministry Special Representative
for Human Rights Konstantin Dolgov said on Sunday. He reminded
that such position contradicts international law, “including
the results of Nuremberg.” Dolgov also criticized Kiev for
“politicized antics surrounding May 9th” calling it
“highly inappropriate” given the sanctity of that day
for millions of people across the globe.