Russian embassy in Oslo dismisses claims about Russia's support of neo-Nazis in Norway
MOSCOW. Feb 7 (Interfax) - The Russian embassy to Norway has described allegations in Norwegian media about Russia's role in supporting radical rightist groups as blasphemous.
"Russia's official bodies do not provide support to neo-Nazi and extreme right organizations. On the contrary, opposition to any manifestations of neo-Nazism is among the top priorities of Russian foreign policy," the embassy said in response to "insinuations about Russia's involvement in supporting radical rightist groups."
"Our country is absolutely not to blame for the fact that radical rightist groups are getting stronger in Europe as traditional parties are losing influence," the embassy said.
"We are working together with the authorities and politicians elected by the populations of relevant countries," he said.
"Unwilling to recognize obvious problems in Western society, its elite, 'experts,' and 'systemic' media outlets prefer to look for traces of 'Russian propaganda and influence,'" the embassy said.
"We would like to recall that it was the Soviet Union that made the decisive contribution to the victory over fascism in WWII, and the memory of that tragedy is alive in our country as in no other. Therefore, accusing Russia of playing a role in supporting right-wing radicalism is not only stupid but also blasphemous," the embassy said.
"Like other Western countries, Norway is not free from the phenomenon of neo-Nazism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, even though they are not displayed as vividly here as in other European countries," it said.
"We are grateful to the authorities and the community of Norway for maintaining the monuments to Soviet soldiers in exemplary order," it said.
"At the same time, while the Norwegian authorities declare that any extremist ideologies are unacceptable, Oslo, for instance, has for many years not supported [abstained from supporting] the resolution on 'Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance' at UN General Assembly sessions," the embassy said.
"Norway takes a tolerant approach to the revelry of radicals and the nationalistic legislative initiatives in Ukraine, the 'war' against the monuments to Soviet soldiers waged by the Polish authorities, the maltreatment of veterans of the Great Patriotic War in Latvia and Estonia, and the glorification of the 'forest brothers' in Lithuania," it said.
"Those are subjects that truly deserve attention from journalists who claim to be unbiased, instead of recitations of second-hand Russophobic stories that passed through other European media long ago," the embassy said.