MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Overt propaganda and the rehabilitation of Nazism endanger the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday responding to a statement from the European Commission regarding European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes.

The Russian Foreign Ministry focused on a statement made, on behalf of the European Commission, by its First Vice President Frans Timmermans and Commissioners Vera Jourova and Tibor Navracsics.

"It once again attempts to equate Nazi Germany, an aggressor country, with the Soviet Union whose people bore the brunt of Nazi aggression and put up a reliable resistance to this inhumane, abhorrent ideology that had threatened the very existence of our civilization," the ministry pointed out. "Although, unlike last year’s declaration, this time the authors didn’t dare to openly lay the responsibility for unleashing World War II on the USSR along with Nazi Germany, its the essence remains the same."

"We have to state that immunization against the Nazi virus developed at the Nuremberg Trials is gradually beginning to wear off," the Russian Foreign Ministry declared, adding that this is evident in a number of European countries. "Propagating Nazi ideas and values is being conducted openly, while radical nationalists are reawakening. Of particular concern is the situation in Ukraine, where Nazi war criminals have, in fact, been rehabilitated. All this not only insults the memories of millions of victims but also jeopardizes the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights."

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed to "cynical attempts to falsify the history of World War II by equating victims with their executioners, while lionizing the Nazis and their henchmen." "The purpose of such unscrupulous actions is evident as well - to use historical speculations in geopolitical games, fire up political fears to drive a wedge between entire countries and peoples," the ministry explained.

The Foreign Ministry noted with regret "the reluctance of EU member-states to support the UN General Assembly resolution initiated by Russia 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, which always gets the support of the overwhelming majority of the UN member-countries."

The document adds that dedicating monuments to SS legionnaires, holding Nazi-style marches or other similar actions desecrating the memory of countless victims of Nazism, gravely harm the younger generation, which is absolutely incompatible with the commitments of the UN member-countries.".