West Must Influence Kiev to Eradicate Neo-Nazism in Ukraine – Diplomat

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Dolgov also stressed that the threat of neo-nazism is not limited to Ukraine.

At the beginning of April, Ukraine's parliament passed a bill to ban Communist and Nazi symbols and propaganda. The bill has not been signed into law yet, but has raised public concerns over the fact that it does not have clearly defined application boundaries.

Russia has repeatedly tried to draw international attention to the spread of far-right and aggressive nationalist groups in Ukraine, as well as the widespread outbursts of neo-nazism in the country, where an internal conflict erupted last year.

"We think that the EU, the US that Kiev so actively listens to and, of course, relevant international organizations that Ukraine is a member of – this includes the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe – should exert the necessary influence on Ukrainian authorities," Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, told the Izvestia newspaper.

According to Moscow, the armed conflict between Kiev forces and independence supporters in Ukraine's southeast, is being fueled by far-right groups and neo-nazis.

In December, 2014, Russia called on all UN member-states to back its resolution against the glorification of Nazism. Ukraine, along with the United States and Canada, voted against the Russia-initiated UN General Assembly resolution.