Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused the West of “tolerating” extremist elements within the Ukrainian military, prompting a backlash from Kyiv.
Speaking outside a Holocaust museum in the country, Fico blasted the country’s allies for allegedly not caring about instances of political extremism in the country.
“We all talk about fascism, Nazism, and yet we tacitly tolerate the fact that there are units running around Ukraine which have a very clear designation, which are linked to movements that we now consider dangerous and forbidden,” he said according to a Reuters report.
“Because it’s a geopolitical battle, it doesn’t bother anyone.”
That prompted a critical response from Kyiv, which accused Fico of playing into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands.
“Kyiv is disappointed by Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statement regarding Ukrainian soldiers, which contradicts the current level of trust and cooperation between Ukraine and Slovakia,” the country’s military said in a statement on September 9.
“In the 20th century, the Ukrainian people suffered millions of losses in the fight against Nazism. Millions of Ukrainians fought in various regular armies and resistance movements as part of the anti-Hitler coalition, contributing significantly to the victory over Nazism and Hitler’s allies.
“We rely on Slovakia’s and all of our European partners’ united efforts to counter the current Russian evil, which has brought atrocities to Ukrainian soil unprecedented since World War II,” Kyiv officials added.
The Netherlands has vowed to create ‘credible deterrence’ with rapid armed forces expansion.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Netherlands already started to raise its investment in the army as the following graphic shows, but NATO insisted it needed more heavy fighting… pic.twitter.com/kAkp9R6cGt
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 6, 2024
Fico’s comments represetned the latest instance of concerns being raised regarding the presence of hard-right extremism in Ukraine.
Since before Russia’s latest invasion of the country in 2022, there were numerous recorded instances of Ukrainian soldiers sporting Nazi-linked symbols.
While some in the country claimed the use of such symbols was limited to a fringe group of soldiers, some of Ukraine’s largest military and paramilitary factions have displayed them as a matter of routine.
The Azov Brigade, one of the most prominent of the country’s national security units, sports the runic Wolfsangel in its logo, with the symbol being linked by numerous organisations to hard-right extremism.
A now-defunct logo used by the brigade also sported a so-called “Sonnenrad” or “Black Sun” symbol, which had also been frequently used by neo-Nazi groups in the past.
Questions have been raised as to how relevant the use of such symbols are now, with some pundits noting that many have been phased out by Ukrainian brigades over the course of the conflict with Russia.
Others have pointed out that the fact Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish indicated that fascism and neo-Nazism could not be a major issue in the country.
The Kremlin claims that Russia is adjusting its nuclear doctrine because the United States and its Western allies are threatening Russia by escalating the war in Ukraine and riding roughshod over Moscow’s legitimate security interests. https://t.co/f3tLoy0U80
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 4, 2024
