Ukraine's
pro-EU protests show no sign of stopping – US
Senator John McCain dined with opposition leaders this weekend, including
the extreme far-right Svoboda party.
During his trip the former US presidential
candidate met with government and opposition figures, but gave his endorsement
to the pro-Europe protesters.
Senator McCain later waved to protesters from the
stage in Independence Square during a mass rally in Kiev, standing with Oleh
Tyahnybok, leader of the anti-Semitic Svoboda party.
Svoboda, meaning freedom, has been enjoying a
boom in success in recent years winning their first parliamentary seats in
2010, taking just over 10 per cent of the vote to become Ukraine’s fourth
biggest party with 36 seats out of 450.
The ultra-nationalist group is aligned with other
European far-right parties including the BNP, but their radical stance has made
them a central force in the ongoing street protests.
The party was registered in 1995, initially
called the Social National Party of Ukraine and using a swastika style logo.
A 1999 report from Tel-Aviv University called the
party: "an extremist, right-wing, nationalist organization which
emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National
Socialism."
The party broke with their most extreme elements
a decade ago, expelling groups of neo-Nazis and rebranding with a new name and
logo.
However, in 2004 leader Oleh Tyahnybok gave a
speech attacking what he called "the Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling
Ukraine" and in another speech declared: "the Moskali, Germans, Kikes
and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state."
Despite the controversy his statements attracted
in the West, Tyahnybok was voted Person of the Year by readers of Ukrainian
news magazine Korrespondent last year.
In another outburst from the party their deputy
chief, Ihor Miroshnychenko, wrote an anti-Semitic attack on Mila Kunis on
Facebook: "Kunis is not Ukrainian, she is a Yid. She is proud of it, so
Star of David be with her."
The World Jewish Congress has called for Svoboda
to be banned along with the Jobbik party in Hungary and Greece's extremist
Golden Dawn.
Out on the streets of Kiev the red and black
striped flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) is regularly seen carried
alongside flags carrying Svoboda's logo.
The UIA flag belongs to an anti-communist force
that sought to establish an ethnic nation state under dictatorship during the
Second World War.
Svoboda member of parliament Ihor Miroshnychenko
called for the banning of a LGBT march this year declaring that
"homosexuality provokes sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS."
The statement will sit uncomfortably with Senator McCain's wife Cindy, who has campaigned for same-sex marriage and petitioned her husband on the issue.
The statement will sit uncomfortably with Senator McCain's wife Cindy, who has campaigned for same-sex marriage and petitioned her husband on the issue.
However, Svoboda takes a strong anti-Moscow line
and has strong relationships with elements in Europe, they are the only non-EU
member of the Alliance of European National Movements - a group that includes
the BNP and French National Front.
Last year, their members of parliament were
involved in a brawl in an attempt to prevent a deputy from speaking in Russian
from the podium. They later used a chainsaw to cut down a fence erected around
the parliament building.
Defending his party Oleh Tyahnybok has repeatedly
claimed that Svoboda is not racist or anti-Semitic, telling the New York Times:
"Our view is love. Love of our land. Love of the people who live on this land. This is love to your wife and your home and your family. So, it's love to your mother. Can this feeling be bad?"
"Our view is love. Love of our land. Love of the people who live on this land. This is love to your wife and your home and your family. So, it's love to your mother. Can this feeling be bad?"
Already, public Jewish events celebrating
Hanukkah have been cancelled due to fears of violence, with Ukrainian Jewish
Committee spokesman Eduard Dolinsky warning: "Increase security
everywhere, at every public Jewish place."
After being pictured on stage at a rally with
Fatherland leader, Vitaly Klitschko, and Svoboda’s Oleh Tyahnybok, McCain
declared: "Those brave men and women should know that they are not alone.
Their friends across the world stand in solidarity with them."
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