OSLO, February 8. /TASS/. Norwegian experts’ allegations that Russia is supporting ultra radical groups in Europe in a bid to split Western society are impudent and cynical, Russia’s embassy in Norway said on Wednesday.
The embassy came out with this statement after Norway’s government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company NRK posted on its website a feature about alleged links between Russia and the far-right Nordic Resistance Movement. The organization Norwegian experts describe as neo-Nazi is most popular in Sweden but is seeking to spread its influence into neighboring Scandinavian countries.
"Russian official agencies never support neo-Nazi or far-right organizations. On the contrary, counteracting any manifestations of neo-Nazism is one of the key goals of Russia’s foreign policy," the embassy said. "We would like recall that it was the Soviet Union that made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism in World War II and the memory of that tragedy is still alive in our country, like nowhere else. That is why it is impudent and cynical to accuse Russia of backing ultra-radicalism."
According to the Russian diplomats, it is not Russia’s fault that ultra-right movements are enhancing their influence in Europe while traditional parties are losing their positions. Nevertheless, it is a common task for Russia and the West to repel radicalism, xenophobia and racism, the Russian embassy emphasized.
"Being reluctant to admit obvious problems in Western society, its elite, the so-called experts and mainstream media prefer to hunt for traces of ‘Russia’s propaganda and influence.’ Norway, like other Western countries, is not spared of neo-Nazism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, although these phenomena are not that visible here as in a number of other European countries (thanks to the high living standards and the anti-Nazism vaccine of 1940-1945). We are thankful to Norway’s authority and people for taking good care of monuments to Soviet soldiers," the embassy said. "At the same time (although the Norwegian authorities have been speaking against any extremist ideologies), Oslo has been for years abstaining during the United Nations General Assembly’s voting of the resolution "Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance" (the latest such voting took place at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in the autumn of 2017, when 133 countries voted for the resolution and two (Ukraine and the United States) were against.".