Next time you hear about the "fascist coup" in Ukraine, remember this chart

[uhnope]

http://blog.skepticallibertarian.com/2014/05/28/next-time-you-hear-about-a-fascist-coup-in-ukraine-remember-this-chart

One line of Kremlin propaganda you hear a lot from Confused Pro-Putin Libertarians and the pseudo-antiwar (but really just anti-Western) left is that there was a “fascist coup” or “right-wing takeover” of Ukraine, and that as a result, Putin needed to invade Crimea (and quite possibly other Ukrainian provinces soon) to “protect” ethnic Russians and Jews from “Nazis” in Kyiv.

Like the most successful lies, this one has a grain of truth to it: the far-right parties Right Sector and Svoboda did play a role in the protests that toppled pro-Russian autocrat Viktor Yanukovych from power, and they did gain representation in the provisional cabinet that followed his ouster.

But the fact is that there has been no resurgence of fascism in Ukraine (at least, in the parts not controlled by Russian spetsnaz and armed separatists), and the claim that Ukrainian Jews are under threat has been refuted and denied by Ukraine’s rabbis and Jewish community. As Timothy Snyder pointed out months ago, “The prime minister is a liberal conservative, one of the two deputy prime ministers is Jewish, and the governor of the important eastern province of Dnipropetrovsk is the president of the Congress of Ukrainian Jewish Organizations.”

Moreover, the protests that drove Ukrainians into the streets were motivated by a desire for liberalism, limited executive power, free trade, and European integration, and against corruption, autocracy, Russian imperialism, and Yanukovych’s murderous riot police. Weakening the president, abolishing stormtroopers, new elections, and international integration: not exactly a typical “fascist” agenda.

[Cha]

1. Thank you, uhnope! Bookmarking.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. Russia actually supports the neo-Nazis

1. Jobbik receives financial support from Russia: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/hungary-s-far-right-backed-by-rolling-moscow-roubles-1.1034539

2 - From the Voice of Russia: Marine Le Pen lauds Putin, and in turn, United Russia, Putin's party, wishes her well in the election (no, I am not making this up. See below):

Leader of France’s rightwing National Front party has explained why she respects Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Mr. Putin is a patriot. His cares for his people’s sovereignty. He realizes that we are defending common values, the values of European civilization," Maribe Le Pen said
…
The way the Russian leader runs the country demonstrates his commitment to the values of society and the need to recognize these values, the French politician notes.
Earlier, Russia’s ruling United Russia party wished Marine Le Pen’s National Front success in the upcoming election to the European Parliament.

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_05_19/EU-wages-Cold-War-on-Russia-against-its-own-interests-Marine-Le-Pen-1351/

[baldguy]

4. But RT said they were fascists & Nazis - so it MUST be true!

[truth2power]

5. There was a fascist coup and Putin did not "invade" Crimea...

You'll have to do your own research on it, though.

Nice try.

[polly7]

8. +100000000000000000000000000 nt.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. So how did the "fascist coup"happen?

And who were the well-armed men in green camo that appeared in Crimea a week after Yanukovych left the country?

[malaise]

10. Pathetic try n/t

[dipsydoodle]

6. That was Ukraine's Presidential election -

not their parliamentary elections which are not due for 3 more years.

[socialist_n_TN]

11. Not to mention that fascist or proto-fascist parties' representatives.....

still hold some major portfolios in the Ukrainian government. And the invasion forces in southeastern Ukraine seems to largely be made up of "civil activists" (read Right Sector thugs) who've been deputized into the National Guard. Probably because most Ukrainian regular troops didn't seem to want to fire on the citizens in southeastern Ukraine.

I personally don't think that the fascists have a lot of support among the Ukrainian people anyway, even in the west. But they DO seem to have an outsized role in the interim Ukrainian government and especially amongst some of the "defense" positions. And they definitely seemed to have played the major role in the actions that ran Yanukovych out of the country.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. France looks to be in danger from the right wing.

We may have to send in "advisors". just to prevent something horrible.

[socialist_n_TN]

12. Yeah, like that'll happen......

Now if it were an anti-capitalist grouping that was gaining influence, Academi would be sent in a heartbeat.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

13. Russia's support of the neo-Nazis, part two:

Just keep on posting this stuff, so no one can claim that either there's no evidence of Russia's close ties to the European far right, or that there is no ideological dovetailing of their views:

Link: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-far-right-developing-closer-ties-with-moscow-a-963878.html

During the Cold War, left-wing parties were often viewed with no small amount of suspicion in the West. Fear was rampant, if perhaps overwrought, that they could act as a political beachhead for the Soviet Union and the communist East Bloc in their presumed quest for global domination.
Times have changed. Me: (except for some posters on DU...) While relations between Moscow and the West are once again tense due to the ongoing tug-o'-war over Ukraine and the Crimea, it is Europe's right-wing parties that are showing an affinity for Russia. And with European Parliament elections quickly approaching in late May, right-wing populists -- with parties in several countries well positioned to make gains in the coming vote -- are being increasingly open about their desire to act as an advocate for Moscow in Brussels.
…
The comments from Dewinter and Markov came on the sidelines of a conference held in the European Parliament recently that marks the most serious attempt yet by European right-wing parties to court Russia. Called somewhat awkwardly "EU-Russia: De-Escalating the Crisis - Roadmap for Peace in Europe," the conference was organized by Fiorello Provera, a senior member of the Italian right-wing party Lega Nord and deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in European Parliament, together with David Lasar from Austria's Islamophobic Freedom Party (FPÖ).
…
The cooperation between the European far right and Russia has been developing for some time. A report published by the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute in March, called "The Russian Connection: The Spread of Pro-Russian Policies on the European Far Right," notes that Moscow has shown an interest in Eastern European right-wing parties for several years now. The paper notes that, while admiration for Russia is not universal in Europe's ultra-conservative scene, there is a widespread "ideological and political affinity" between the far right and Russia.