Supporting Ukraine is not pushing the country into neo-fascism

President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova did not push the country on the side of neofascism by expressing Macedonia’s support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. That is the official position of the country as a NATO Member-State taken from the very beginning of the military invasion. The post insinuates that the support for Ukraine is “pushing the country into neo-fascism“, which is part of the Russian disinformation campaign. Ukraine prohibited the promotion of Nazism in 2015 

We are fact-checking a post on the social network Facebook stating the following: 

This is why we, sovereigntists, call for a boycott of Presidential elections. The “mother” of the nation is pushing Macedonia on the side of neo-fascism. 

The post is shared alongside an announcement regarding the meeting between President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova receiving the Ukrainian Ambassador Larisa Dir. At the meeting, satisfaction was expressed about the traditionally friendly relations based on mutual respect and understanding. 

The meeting was officially covered on the website of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia in the following manner: 

President Siljanovska Davkova stressed her commitment to deepen cooperation in all areas of common interest, reaffirming the support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion that undermines European global security and stability. President Siljanovska Davkova emphasized Macedonia’s support for Ukraine on its way to the European Union and NATO. 

President Siljanovska Davkova is not pushing the country into neo-fascism by expressing Macedonia’s support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. That is the official position of the country as a NATO Member-State taken at the Summit from the very beginning of the military invasion. The post insinuates that the support for Ukraine is “pushing the country into neo-fascism” which, again, is part of the Russian disinformation campaign. 

The current Ukrainian government is not fascist, nor a dictatorship or connected in any way with the Nazi past. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was democratically elected in fair elections, winning 73 percent of votes in the 2019 Presidential elections. 

Ukraine has extreme right-wing forces that are weak compared to those in other European countries. The extreme right-wing United Front won only 2.15 percent of the votes in the last elections. 

Ukraine is a country with millions of people killed fighting against Nazism in the Second World War. Even though Nazism is prohibited in Ukraine, the Kremlin is persistent in pushing the narrative that Ukraine is a Nazi nation. The database EUvsDisinfo contains almost 500 examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation claims related to “Nazi/Fascist Ukraine”. 

Since 2015, the EUvsDisinfo database has documented numerous examples, such as claims that fascists rule Moldova, the Baltic States, and Poland and that Europe, including the European Parliament, is ‘supporting’ fascism. Speaking in Vladivostok six months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin even speculated that the EU’s foreign policy chief, High Representative Josep Borell, ”would have been on the side of the fascists had he lived in the Thirties”. 

For many years, Russian state-controlled media have claimed that various states and entities are ruled by Nazis or permeated by Nazi ideology. In the jargon, “Nazi” and “Fascist” have become synonyms. This is because, in the Kremlinverse, anyone deemed hostile to Russia or the idea of uniting the Russian-speaking world is labeled a “Nazi”, first and foremost – Ukraine, specify the EUvsDisinfo. 

The story of alleged Nazism in Ukraine has roots in the Second World War and the political opposition leader Stepan Bandera, including the initial exaltation from the German Army entry of some of the Ukrainians living in the region Galicia. Alas, the German rule proved that its intention was pure occupation of Ukraine which was part of the Soviet Union (USSR) until then. 

Jeffrey Veidlinger, for the Time stated: 

At one point, there were some Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis. This is why Putin can use that term, but this was 80 years ago and doesn’t reflect the current Ukrainian Government. It’s a meaningless term when Putin uses it. He’s not afraid of Nazis in Ukraine. He’s afraid of democracy in Ukraine. And he recognizes that as democracy encroaches upon Russia as it comes closer to Russia, there’s a threat that those people will demand democracy. 

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