Lately, Germany has been taking a keen interest in the upcoming October 26 Ukrainian parliamentary elections. Bizarrely, they are full of praise for neo-nazi candidates.Russia Insider
For example, the publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung perhaps Germany’s most prestigious daily, recently dedicated a very sympathetic article to Oleh Lyashko. Who is this “Oleh”?
Lyashko was elected to parliament despite having a criminal record and having spent quality prison time for embezzlement. His neo-nazi militia group has been condemned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for war crimes. His response to this was the Ukrainian equivalent of “in the fog of war stuff happens”. Ironically, he is also chairman of a subcommittee on - wait for it - “Rules and Ethics”.
Also recently, Die Zeit, Germany’s most prestigious weekly, published a profile interview with Semyon Semenchenko, the commander and founder of a neo-nazi militia referred to as the Donbass Battalion.
On June 29th members of his battalion staged a protest in front of the parliament demanding the immediate cessation of the truce declared on June 21st . A truce is bad news, of course, for bad-boy Nazi wannabes who want to rid Ukraine of communists, jews and Russians.
Not the least problem with giving positive coverage to extremists is that you embolden them. Semenchenko recently openly threatened President Poroshenko, calling “a traitor”, saying he would force Poroshenko to flee for his life from Ukraine unless hostilities against the pro-Russian separatists are resumed.
In a remarkable feat of irrationality Sementchenko even admitted to his battalion wearing Nazi insignia: "Yes, we wear swastikas, but such symbols do not mean much anymore".
Top German Newspapers Whitewash Leading Ukrainian Neo-Nazis
Daniele Pozzati
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