Head of Russian Jewish organization slams EU "pressure" on Ukraine
MOSCOW. Dec 17 (Interfax) - The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has slammed the European Union for resorting to "pressure, blackmail and cajoling" to persuade Ukraine to go ahead with signing a planned association agreement with it after Ukraine put the deal on hold last month.
"It is the domestic choice of Ukraine, they must decide how they will proceed, in what regime, though a referendum or through some other constitutional methods," Alexander Boroda told a news conference at Interfax on Tuesday.
He said he couldn't understand that foreign visitors, "and not just ordinary people but leaders, members of government from other countries, come and give support to one or the other party to the conflict - those who support Ukraine's greater integration with Russia or the European Union."
"We have a negative attitude towards this because it means an attempt to pressure, blackmail. The people must make their own decision," Boroda said.
The benefits the EU is offering Ukraine "are very questionable economically, and, if Ukraine goes to the European Union under this pressure and doesn't get what it expects to, or the population doesn't feel any economic improvement, it will cause more negative attitudes to the European Union," he said.
Boroda also expressed anxiety at the alleged growing influence of nationalist parties in Ukraine.
"There is, for example, the Svoboda party there, which simply has an anti-Semitic slant to its political activities. There's a great deal there not of patriotism but of radical nationalism that goes hand in hand with fascism and the rehabilitation of fascist henchmen, [Stepan] Bandera and others," Boroda said.
He also condemned annual "ritual" processions in Estonia and Latvia of local veterans of Nazi Germany's SS forces and alleged neo-Nazis.
"With persistence that deserves use for a better purpose, this happens yearly. We hope very much that next year it won't happen, and that not only will our voice be heard in the countries where such actions are supported but that the European Union will launch intensive administrative measures to cut short such activities and, for that matter, attempts at the revision of the results of World War II and the rehabilitation of fascism," Boroda said.
