UNITED NATIONS, December 16. /TASS/. The vote by former Axis countries, such as Germany, Italy and Japan, against the Russian draft resolution at the UN General Assembly on combating the glorification of Nazism is shocking and sacrilegious, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gennady Kuzmin said following the vote on Thursday.

Some 120 countries voted for the resolution on combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, while 10 abstained and 50 voted against it. The latter include Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, the US, Ukraine, Finland, France and Japan.

"This year’s voting results are truly shocking. For the first time in UN history, former Axis members voted against a document condemning Nazism as well as upholding the inviolability of the results of the Second World War," the diplomat noted during his address. "The countries that voted against the resolution, above all, Germany, Japan and Italy, displayed flagrant blasphemy toward the memory of victims of German Nazism, Italian Fascism and Japanese militarism," he added.

Additionally, Kuzmin stated that Russia was rejecting an amendment to the resolution introduced by Western countries which states that the battle against Nazism and neo-Nazism cannot be used to explain Russia’s actions in Ukraine. "The resolution is thematic and not country-related. It is directed at dialogue and cooperation and not at assigning labels," the Russian diplomat noted. "This is precisely why we are rejecting clause 4 of the operative part voted into the resolution which demonstrates alarm over the special military operation in Ukraine," he concluded.

About the resolution

The approved resolution has been traditionally introduced by Russia every year. The document is co-authored, in particular, by Azerbaijan, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cambodia, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa. The document expresses deep concern over any form of glorification of the Nazi movement, neo-Nazism and former members of the Waffen SS organization, including the construction of monuments and memorials and public demonstrations aimed at extoling any Nazi past, the Nazi movement and neo-Nazism.