U.N. adopts Russia's resolution combatting neo-Nazism and xenophobia
November 6, 2023
The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution introduced by Russia to combat neo-Nazism. According to TASS, 112 countries, including Israel and the UAE, voted for the document entitled “Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.” The resolution was opposed by 50 countries, including Germany, Austria, the United States, Britain and Canada. Another 14 abstained.
Russia prepared the resolution in co-authorship with other countries, including Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, North Korea, Cuba, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and South Africa. The document consists of 74 points. In particular, it contains provisions for the “unequivocal condemnation” of any denial or attempt to deny the Holocaust, as well as all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, persecution or violence against individuals or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief. The document also calls for condemnation of incidents related to the glorification and propaganda of Nazism, welcomes efforts to preserve historical truth, and contains recommendations for taking measures to prevent denial of crimes against humanity, revision of history and the results of the Second World War.
The Russian Embassy in Ottawa called it blasphemy that Canada did not support the resolution. “Russia is disappointed by Canada’s vote against the resolution of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on combating the glorification of Nazism. We are deeply concerned that Canadian authorities harbored Nazi collaborators, including Jaroslav Gunko , for decades and turned a blind eye to the continued celebration of their memory in Canada. The regime of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violates international obligations, including the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal, and commits sacrilege against the memory of those Canadians who gave their lives fighting alongside Russia against Nazism,” a publication on the embassy’s page in X states.