5 Jul, 2022 11:27

Germany gives Ukraine advice on Nazi-collaborator national ‘hero’ – media

Kiev should join a Holocaust remembrance group to discuss Bandera’s role in ethnic cleansing, an anti-Semitism official has said

Germany has tacitly criticized Ukraine for the apologism of Nazi-collaborator Stepan Bandera advocated by Kiev’s ambassador. The country should join the Berlin-based International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), where Bandera’s role in ethnic cleansings can be discussed, German anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein said on Monday.

The IHRA is an “appropriate forum” for discussing the issue on the international level, Klein told Funke Mediengruppe. This suggestion was in response to claims byUkrainian Ambassador Andrey Melnik, who said there was no evidence that Nazi collaborator Banderawas responsible for the persecution of Poles and Jews in Ukraine during World War II.

Bandera is considered a national hero in Ukraine due to his role as a nationalist leader. Forces loyal to him were involved in mass killings and expulsions of non-Ukrainians, and sided with the invading Nazi German forces, hoping that Adolf Hitler would allow a Ukrainian state to exist under Berlin’s protectorate.

The Germans arrested Bandera in 1941 after he refused to accept that his plan to proclaim an independent Ukraine would not be allowed. He was released three years later in hopes that he could lead his Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists to fight the advancing Red Army on the eastern front.

Melnik’s attempt to whitewash Bandera’s role in the persecution of minorities in Ukraine prompted rebuke from Poland and Israel. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry distanced itself from the diplomat, saying he was expressing his personal views. Kiev reportedly wants to recall the ambassador from Berlin and appoint him deputy foreign minister.

Klein said that he found Melnik’s comments problematic, because they allegedly “feed the Russian narrative” about Ukraine and “cause division and misunderstanding among friendly states.”

Moscow believes the Ukrainian government is beholden to the whims of radical nationalists, some of whom openly espouse neo-Nazi beliefs, and that they prevented the government in Kiev from seeking reconciliation with the Donbass region in the east, while pushing for military action against them.

(A lot of the Ukraine diplomats seem like shills and trolls we encounter. Kek)

https://www.rt.com/news/558393-germany-rebukes-ukraine-bandera/