Congress is reported to have recently repealed its ban on a Ukrainian
militia accused of being neo-Nazi, opening the way for American military
assistance.Last June,
Congress passed a resolution intended to block American military funding
for Ukraine from being used to provide training or weaponry for the
Azov Battalion, an independent unit that had been integrated into the
former Soviet Republic’s national guard and was taking part in
operations against Russian- backed rebels.Called
a “neo-Nazi paramilitary militia” by Congressmen John Conyers Jr. and
Ted Yoho, who cosponsored the bipartisan amendment, the battalion has
been a source of controversy since its inception.With
the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel symbol on its unit flash – which resembles a
black swastika on a yellow background – and founders drawn from the
ranks of the paramilitary national socialist group called “Patriot of
Ukraine,” the group would have been a fringe phenomenon in any Western
nation, but with its army unequipped to face the separatist threat in
the east, Kiev actually integrated Azov into its military forces.According
to a report in The Nation, the Pentagon lobbied the House Defense
Appropriations Committee to remove the Conyers-Yoho amendment from the
2016 defense budget, claiming it was unnecessary as such funding was
already prohibited under another law.However,
The Nation asserted that the law in question, known as the Leahy Law,
only prohibits funding to groups that have “committed a gross violation
of human rights,” which would not apply in this case.The
news that the Azov Battalion is now legally able to receive American
aid has enraged the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which last week
successfully blocked the battalion from holding a recruitment meeting in
Nantes, France.“This step
is hardly surprising to anyone who has been following the growing danger
of Holocaust distortion in post-Communist Europe, and especially in the
Baltics, Ukraine and Hungary,” said Wiesenthal Center Jerusalem office
head Efraim Zuroff.“In
recent years, the United States has purposely ignored the glorification
of Nazi collaborators, the granting of financial benefits to those who
fought alongside the Nazis, and the systematic promotion of the canard
of equivalency between Communist and Nazi crimes by these countries
because of various political interests.”Likud
MK Avraham Neguise also lambasted the decision, telling The Jerusalem
Post that “If the ban is lifted, funds may reach neo-Nazis, and their
first target is the Jewish community.”One of the best ways to combat anti-Semites, he asserted, is “by damaging them economically.”Not
everyone was so upset, however, with the Vaad of Ukraine, a Jewish
communal body comprising a number of different organizations and known
for its nationalist stance on many issues, coming out in favor of the
move.“I appreciate this
decision. It must be clearly understood: there is no kind of ‘neo-Nazi
Ukrainian militia’ now. Azov is a regular military unit subordinate to
the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is not irregular division neither a
political group. Its commanders and fighters might have personal
political views as individuals, but as an armed police unit Azov is a
part of the system of the Ukrainian defense forces,” said anti-Semitism
researcher Vyacheslav A. Likhachev, speaking on behalf of the Vaad.Russian
“aggression” is a much bigger threat than Azov, Likhachev insisted,
adding that “it is necessary to clearly distinguish between the Azov
regiment and political projects related to its former commander.”“Of
course, manifestations of neo-Nazism in Ukraine are unacceptable. But
it has nothing to do with the question of assistance to the Ukrainian
armed forces.”Reuters contributed to this report.
US lifts ban on funding ‘neo-Nazi’ Ukrainian militia
Last June, Congress passed a resolution intended to block American military funding for Ukraine from being used to provide training or weaponry for the Azov Battalion.
JANUARY 18, 2016
ukraine
(photo credit: REUTERS)