By: Eric Draitzer
News Source: Stop Imperialism
The violence on the streets of Ukraine is far
more than an expression of popular anger against a government. Instead, it is
merely the latest example of the rise of the most insidious form of fascism
that Europe has seen since the fall of the Third Reich.
Recent months have seen regular protests by the
Ukrainian political opposition and its supporters – protests ostensibly in
response to Ukrainian President Yanukovich’s refusal to sign a trade agreement
with the European Union that was seen by many political observers as the first step
towards European integration. The protests remained largely peaceful until
January 17th when protesters armed with clubs, helmets, and
improvised bombs unleashed brutal violence on the police, storming government
buildings, beating anyone suspected of pro-government sympathies, and generally
wreaking havoc on the streets of Kiev. But who are these violent extremists and
what is their ideology?
The political formation is known as “Pravy
Sektor” (Right Sector), which is essentially an umbrella organization
for a number of ultra-nationalist (read fascist) right wing groups including
supporters of the “Svoboda” (Freedom) Party, “Patriots of Ukraine”, “Ukrainian
National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defense” (UNA-UNSO), and “Trizub”.
All of these organizations share a common ideology that is vehemently
anti-Russian, anti-immigrant, and anti-Jewish among other things. In addition
they share a common reverence for the so called “Organization of Ukrainian
Nationalists” led by Stepan Bandera, the infamous Nazi collaborators who
actively fought against the Soviet Union and engaged in some of the worst
atrocities committed by any side in World War II.
While Ukrainian political forces, opposition
and government, continue to negotiate, a very different battle is being waged
in the streets. Using intimidation and brute force more typical of Hitler’s
“Brownshirts” or Mussolini’s “Blackshirts” than a contemporary political
movement, these groups have managed to turn a conflict over economic policy and
the political allegiances of the country into an existential struggle for the
very survival of the nation that these so called “nationalists” claim to love
so dearly. The images of Kiev burning, Lviv streets filled with thugs, and
other chilling examples of the chaos in the country, illustrate beyond a shadow
of a doubt that the political negotiation with the Maidan (Kiev’s central
square and center of the protests) opposition is now no longer the central
issue. Rather, it is the question of Ukrainian fascism and whether it is to be
supported or rejected.
For its part, the United States has strongly
come down on the side of the opposition, regardless of its political character.
In early December, members of the US ruling establishment such as John McCain
and Victoria Nuland were seen at Maidan lending their support to the
protesters. However, as the character of the opposition has become apparent in
recent days, the US and Western ruling class and its media machine have done
little to condemn the fascist upsurge. Instead, their representatives have met
with representatives of Right Sector and deemed them to be “no threat.” In
other words, the US and its allies have given their tacit approval for the
continuation and proliferation of the violence in the name of their ultimate goal:
regime change.
In an attempt to pry Ukraine out of the Russian
sphere of influence, the US-EU-NATO alliance has, not for the first time,
allied itself with fascists. Of course, for decades, millions in Latin America
were disappeared or murdered by fascist paramilitary forces armed and supported
by the United States. The mujahideen of Afghanistan, which later transmogrified
into Al Qaeda, also extreme ideological reactionaries, were created and
financed by the United States for the purposes of destabilizing Russia. And of
course, there is the painful reality of Libya and, most recently Syria, where
the United States and its allies finance and support extremist jihadis against
a government that has refused to align with the US and Israel. There is a disturbing
pattern here that has never been lost on keen political observers: the United
States always makes common cause with right wing extremists and fascists for
geopolitical gain.
The situation in Ukraine is deeply troubling
because it represents a political conflagration that could very easily tear the
country apart less than 25 years after it gained independence from the Soviet
Union. However, there is another equally disturbing aspect to the rise of
fascism in that country – it is not alone.
The Fascist Menace Across the Continent
Ukraine and the rise of right wing extremism
there cannot be seen, let alone understood, in isolation. Rather, it must be
examined as part of a growing trend throughout Europe (and indeed the world) –
a trend which threatens the very foundations of democracy.
In Greece, savage austerity imposed by the
troika (IMF, ECB, and European Commission) has crippled the country’s economy,
leading to a depression as bad, if not worse, than the Great Depression in the
United States. It is against this backdrop of economic collapse that the Golden
Dawn party has grown to become the third most popular political party in the
country. Espousing an ideology of hate, the Golden Dawn – in effect a Nazi
party that promotes anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant, anti-women chauvinism – is a
political force that the government in Athens has understood to be a serious
threat to the very fabric of society. It is this threat which led the
government to arrest the party’s leadership after a Golden Dawn Nazi fatally stabbed
an anti-fascist rapper. Athens has launched an investigation into the party,
though the results of this investigation and trial remain somewhat unclear.
What makes Golden Dawn such an insidious threat
is the fact that, despite their central ideology of Nazism, their anti-EU,
anti-austerity rhetoric appeals to many in the economically devastated Greece.
As with many fascist movements in the 20th Century, Golden Dawn
scapegoats immigrants, Muslim and African primarily, for many of the problems
facing Greeks. In dire economic circumstances, such irrational hate becomes
appealing; an answer to the question of how to solve society’s problems.
Indeed, despite Golden Dawn’s leaders being jailed, other party members are
still in parliament, still running for major offices including mayor of Athens.
Though an electoral victory is unlikely, another strong showing at the polls
will make the eradication of fascism in Greece that much harder.
Were this phenomenon confined to Greece and
Ukraine, it would not constitute a continental trend. Sadly however, we see the
rise of similar, albeit slightly less overtly fascist, political parties all
over Europe. In Spain, the ruling pro-austerity People’s Party has moved to
establish draconian laws restricting protest and free speech, and empowering
and sanctioning repressive police tactics. In France, the National Front Party
of Marine Le Pen, which vehemently scapegoats Muslim and African immigrants,
won nearly twenty percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections.
Similarly, the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands – which promotes
anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant policies – has grown to be the third largest in
parliament. Throughout Scandinavia, ultra nationalist parties which once toiled
in complete irrelevance and obscurity are now significant players in elections.
These trends are worrying to say the least.
It should be noted too that, beyond Europe,
there are a number of quasi-fascist political formations which are, in one way
or another, supported by the United States. The right wing coups that overthrew
the governments of Paraguay and Honduras were tacitly and/or overtly supported
by Washington in their seemingly endless quest to suppress the Left in Latin
America. Of course, one should also remember that the protest movement in
Russia was spearheaded by Alexei Navalny and his nationalist followers who
espouse a virulently anti-Muslim, racist ideology that views immigrants from
the Russian Caucasus and former Soviet republics as beneath “European Russians”.
These and other examples begin to paint a very ugly portrait of a US foreign
policy that attempts to use economic hardship and political upheaval to extend
US hegemony around the world.
In Ukraine, the “Right Sector” has taken the
fight from the negotiating table to the streets in an attempt to fulfill the
dream of Stepan Bandera – a Ukraine free of Russia, Jews, and all other
“undesirables” as they see it. Buoyed by the continued support from the US and
Europe, these fanatics represent a more serious threat to democracy than
Yanukovich and the pro-Russian government ever could. If Europe and the United
States don’t recognize this threat in its infancy, by the time they finally do,
it might just be too late.
Eric Draitser is the founder of StopImperialism.com.
He is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. You can reach
him at ericdraitser@gmail.com
-----------------------------------------
Radical Ukraine: The Rise of Fascism supported by EU & US Govt
Source: Russia Today
Who is
responsible for the violence on the streets of Kiev? Have opposition groups
lost control over their more radical members? Why do Western media overlook the
radical ideological tenor of the protests? And what can save Ukraine from being
divided? CrossTalking with John Laughland, Tony Halpin and Dmitry Babich.
When US Senator
John McCain dined with Ukraine's opposition leaders in December, he shared a
table and later a stage with the leader of the extreme far-right Svoboda party
Oleh Tyahnybok
Photo: http://imgur.com/a/1ghhi/
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