Leningrad — ROT FRONT: ‘Fascists have no place in our city!’

On March 22, our city will host the so-called "International Russian Conservative Forum,” which will bring together representatives of extreme right-wing, nationalist and openly neo-Nazi parties in Europe. The event is organized with the support of the “Motherland” [Rodina] party led by a member of the "United Russia" Duma faction, Alexander Zhuravlyov.

ROT FRONT believes that holding such a forum for representatives of Nazi and fascist organizations in the country that defeated fascism is unacceptable. 

Among the participants are the Greek Golden Dawn, which has repeatedly openly admitted being sympathetic to Hitler. Its logo is a stylized swastika, and membership is strictly specified by nationalist standards. Activists of the Golden Dawn are guilty of numerous crimes in Greece, committed on the basis of ethnic hatred.

The National Democratic Party of Germany, which will also take part in the forum, established in the 1960s by supporters of National Socialist ideas, dreams of reviving the Third Reich. Any street event by the NPD causes massive protests by German anti-fascists and all honest people in Germany, mindful of the brown plague of the last century.

Also coming are nationalists and xenophobes of Sweden (Party of the Swedes), Denmark (Danish Party), Austria (Freedom Party). The neo-Nazi fringe of the British National Party will be there.

It is noteworthy that one of the organizers of this nationalist Sabbath is the “Motherland” party, which calls itself "Putin’s special forces" and expresses its full support for the Kremlin's policy. Despite the constant talk about the struggle against fascism during the large-scale preparations for celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, a pro-government party invites neo-Nazis from across Europe to the city that survived the Nazi blockade. No official from the Kremlin or Smolny has spoken out against this shameful event held just six weeks before May 9.

Event organizers are trying to hide behind the argument that the right-wing parties appear to support Russia and oppose anti-Russian sanctions by the West over Crimea and support for the anti-fascist struggle of Donbass. However, this is an outright lie. 

These parties do not support the fight against fascism, but the rightward policy of Russia and Putin personally. They support the injection of nationalist hysteria in all countries, including in Europe, Russia and Ukraine. They satisfy the needs of large capital for an injection of national tension as a cover for anti-working class, reactionary policies in all countries.

All this suggests that the Russian authorities feel their spiritual kinship with the ultra-right, practice imperial ideology, preach anti-communism and anti-Sovietism, and increasingly show signs of reactionary and fascist trends in its internal politics.

Stop the spread of fascism -- it is up to the workers in Russia and around the world!

Leningrad Committee, ROT FRONTMarch 20, 2015

Source

Translated by Greg Butterfield

Red Star Over Donbass

Leningrad ROT FRONT: ‘Fascists have no place in our city!’

Also

After being being reelected in 2012, Vladimir Putin reinvented himself as a defender of conservative Christian values, a change of tack apparent in the arrest of the Pussy Riot band members for “insulting believers." Another cornerstone of his ideology is the Soviet victory in the war with Nazi Germany. Russian propaganda paints Putin as an “anti-fascist” who opposes what the Kremlin calls the rise of neo-fascism in Ukraine, which Russia invaded last year. 

These two ideological lines clashed at the forum, as both the timing and the choice of venue played against the organizers. The gathering was held as the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe approaches and in the city where nearly 700,000 died during the 900-day siege of Leningrad, as it was then known.

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