WAR PROPAGANDA: The UE wants Ukraine’s denazification, but Kyiv objects

WAR PROPAGANDA: The UE wants Ukraine’s denazification, but Kyiv objects
© EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO   |   Ukrainian activists carry torches during a rally of various nationalist parties to mark the 112th birthday of Stepan Bandera, in Kiev, Ukraine, 01 January 2021.

The EU wants Ukraine to revise the legislation on national minorities, but Nazi-dominated Kyiv refuses, writes the Russian propaganda, which also resumes the "Western colony" narrative.

Propaganda: Brussels sees Nazism as a serious barrier to Ukraine’s EU accession

NEWS: Concurrently with the strengthening of external control bodies over Ukraine, the European Commission is asking Kyiv to make the laws on national minorities and the state language much more democratic. The Ukrainian authorities object, noting that there is no Russian minority in Ukraine […].

In fact, the EU's demands are aimed at strengthening external control over Ukraine. Fighting corruption means increasing the staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the National Agency for Combating Corruption, which are subordinated to Western departments and keep Ukrainian politicians under control with the possibility of arresting and convicting them for acts of corruption.

The lobbying law aims to weaken the positions of Ukrainian oligarchs and strengthen the foreign rule over Ukraine […]

The West no longer needs fascism in Ukraine because it has already served its purpose. On the other hand, the nazified society cannot be appeased and the Nazi military organizations cannot be dissolved so easily.

The West no longer needs fascism in Ukraine, but the fascists themselves – the ones the West put in charge of Ukraine – still need it.

NARRATIVE: The EU is asking for the denazification of Ukraine, and Kyiv objects

Fact: Ukraine was not accused of Nazism by the EU, it was a recommendation to fix some issues in the field of minority and anti-corruption legislation

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: On November 8, the European Commission recommended the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the granting of candidate country status to Georgia. In the case of Ukraine, the EU has recommended that negotiations begin once Kyiv meets the conditions on fighting corruption and  strengthening standards for the protection of national minorities . According to the EU executive, despite the war, Ukraine has carried out a series of reforms supported by the population, fulfilling the 7 stages provided for in the opinion of the European Commission regarding the request for Ukraine's accession to the EU. At the same time, it is mentioned that the provisions of the legislation in the field of the protection of national minorities are to be harmonized with the recommendations of the Venice Commission  , which notified in June 2023, that the considerable decrease in teaching in minority languages ​​in Ukraine endangers their linguistic identity.

The Venice Commission drew attention to some aspects in the Ukrainian legislation regarding national minorities that were  harshly criticised, including by the Romanian community in Ukraine and by Bucharest. Russian state media have interpreted these talks specifically, noting that the EU's claims against Ukraine are in fact aimed at the Nazism/fascism within it. Brussels' request to fix some problems in the field of protection of national minorities is presented in the Russian information space as a condemnation of Ukrainian fascism and support of the denazification policy initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. So, according to Russian propaganda, Kyiv cannot be accepted into the family of European states because it has Nazi laws and Nazi leaders who oppose any democratic changes.

In reality, the EU recommendations do not refer to Nazism in any form, and this notion is not used in the language of official European documents. The new Ukrainian law on national minorities offers guarantees in accordance with international standards,  but in order to ensure full compliance with these standards, some provisions of the law must be reconsidered, the Venice Commission estimated, the request also being confirmed by the EU.

While the requests to reform the legislation in the field of ensuring the rights of national minorities are described by Russian propaganda as requests for the denazification of Ukraine, the recommendations regarding justice and the fight against corruption are presented as an attempt to turn the Ukrainian state into a colony controlled by the West. In reality, corruption is one of Ukraine’s biggest problems . In this context, the EU offered Kyiv some advice on how to solve this issue at institutional level. The European Commission's recommendations aim to improve the investment climate in Ukraine, make the decision-making process transparent and ensure the necessary rights of national minorities in the context of European integration.

At the same time, in the context of the war in Ukraine, there is a reluctance in Kyiv to give Russian speakers all their rights, as possible security risks are evoked. As for the Russian language, there is a fear that its widespread use even immediately after the war could bring Ukraine into Moscow's orbit. These reactions were called by the Russian propaganda as an opposition of the "fascist leaders" to the "EU initiative to denazify Ukraine". The thesis of Nazism/fascism is specific to Russian propaganda, being used to justify the invasion of Ukraine and to mobilize the Russian population.

Veridica has dismantled a series of false Russian narratives regarding the Nazi character of the leadership in Kyiv. According to the Russian state media, Ukraine is a pseudo-Nazi state  pushed to war by the West, and Germany is supporting Ukraine to ensure that the horrors of Nazism are put behind.  A year after the launch of the full-scale invasion, the Russian press was stressing that “the special military operation” saved Russia from NATO invasion and Ukrainian Nazism. . The false narrative about Moscow holding back when bombing Ukraine , knowing that Ukrainians do not support the Nazi leaders in Kyiv, has often been promoted.

  • Publication / Media:
    ukraina.ru
  • Date of publication:
    09/11/2023
  • Target audience:
    Russian-speaking population in Russia, the former Soviet states and the Ukrainian occupied regions
  • Amplification:
    Russian media Telegram channels, DZEN.RU, SMI2.UA
  • Political affiliation:
    The Kremlin
  • Key narrative:
    The EU wants Ukraine’s denazification, but Kyiv opposes it
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