11.06.2019, Kiev.
Six ultra-right and extremist organizations have formed an alliance led by Ukrainian nationalist Svoboda party leader Oleg Tyagnibok, the Svoboda party’s press service reports on June 9.
The coalition includes: Svoboda, the National Corps, the Right Sector (organization banned in Russia), the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (organization banned in Russia) and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Representatives of these organizations are going to participate in early elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament) in a single coalition as the Svoboda party. The decision to create a coalition was made at the congress on June 9.
“Ukraine is above all!” is the nationalist coalition’s program slogan. It is a copy of the “Germany is above all!” slogan of Nazi Germany.
Oleg Tyagnibok is heading the electoral list. The top five names include: the leader of the National Corps Andrei Biletsky; the former and current leaders of the Right Sector (organization banned in Russia) Dmitry Yarosh and Andrei Tarasenko, as well as the deputy chairman of the Svoboda party, former vice-speaker of the Ukrainian Rada Ruslan Koshulinsky.
Almost half of the candidates are members of the Svoboda party. The alliance also plans to nominate candidates with its program in single-member districts.
Tyagnibok addressed the audience with a speech.
“Only the nationalists can be a shield that prevents revenge of the pro-Moscow scum. We must provide a sense of dignity and pride to Ukrainians. We must take what is rightfully ours. We have a special mission: to not shame the glory of our heroes and to protect the future of our children. The nationalists’ coalition in the parliament should be powerful. It will not allow anyone to destroy the Ukrainian state, and it will demonstrate quality work for the benefit of the Ukrainian nation, to ensure a decent life for every Ukrainian. We can offer real changes not just in words, but in our legislative proposals,” he stated.
Svoboda and other Ukrainian nationalist organizations, both those included and those not included in the alliance, played a leading role in the Maidan protests that led to a coup in Ukraine in 2014. Representatives of these organizations participated in mass hostilities in the Donbass region, where they have repeatedly been seen committing crimes against civilians.
According to the survey results, none of these organizations can now overcome the five percent of voting barrier for passing into the Verkhovna Rada.
Editorial comment
The Ukrainian nationalists have shown that they can be a significant political factor after they overthrew the legitimate authorities in 2014.
At the same time, their recent election results are by no means brilliant. After the Maidan, Nationalist parties and organizations have scattered around and lost their electoral support, often due to scandals, and this was not the only reason.
The popularity of ultra-nationalists among ordinary Ukrainians is low despite the systematic pro-Bandera [Ukrainian Nazi collaborator – translator’s note] propaganda. This once again proves that the Maidan was a “minority revolution”, that it did not express the will of the majority, but rather the will of small yet passionate groups.
It is worth noting that this is typical not only of the Ukrainian Maidan; but rather, it is a sign of all contemporary “velvet revolutions”, which use the “the street law” in place of or contrary to the electoral law.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
