MOSCOW, January 26 (Itar-Tass) —— Democracy cannot allow tolerance and political correctness to be used to cover the rehabilitation of Nazism, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said at an international conference entitled “Never again: the memory about the Holocaust and the prevention of crimes against the humankind. World without tolerance, racism, extremism, negativism and anti-Semitism” on Thursday.
The speaker of the upper house of Russian parliament voiced concerns that “xenophobia is spreading in the world, the hatred with ethnic, religious and social motives is being instigated, the popularity of unions and parties, which frequently have sheer Nazi views, is growing.” “The problems in economy, the social sphere, interethnic relations give the breeding ground for a growing influence of various radical groups, ideological and political extremism,” she believes.
“Our enemy is changing faces, uses sophisticated methods, which are primarily seeking to mislead the youth,” Matviyenko said.
“It should be actually acknowledged that the industry of the propaganda of neo-Nazism, ultra-right extremism, the recruitment of young people in various groups, emerged, particularly through the Internet,” she said.
The Federation Council speaker noted that this is one of the most dangerous challenges for the humankind. Matviyenko sees the danger of this tendency in the fact that it is global.
“If we did not lose the ability to learn the lessons of history, the conclusion can be the only one that democracy should be strong. It should be able to protect itself reliably, protect its citizens, the world in general from any threats coming from the racists, fascists and chauvinists,” Matviyenko stated.
Meanwhile, she noted that “democracy does not have the right to allow tolerance, political correctness, freedom of press and its other principles and values to be used by the foresaid elements to cover the rehabilitation of Nazism and the replenishment of the ranks of extremists of all kinds.”
For his part, chairman of the international human rights movement “World Without The Nazism” and a senator Boris Shpigel noted that “today in some countries the non-recognition of the Holocaust fact is permitted, Nazi criminals and their accomplices are heroized.”
For his part, Shpigel offered to create a working group, which will detect these phenomena, publish a history textbook, which will put it clearly that it was “the Red Army which liberated the Oswiecim.”
The forum is organized by the Federation Council and the World Without The Nazism international human rights movement and is held under the patronage of the general secretary of the Council of Europe.