MOSCOW, September 15. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian human rights ombudsman on Monday accused many European leaders of ‘adding fuel to the fire’ in their speeches instead of fighting a growing threat of neo-Nazism.

“International experts and human rights activists note a tendency towards legalization of ultra-right parties and a general growth in Europe of xenophobia and intolerance to national minorities with indulgence of law enforcement agencies,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law said.

“A policy towards building ‘ethnically clean’ Ukrainian state has never been disguised by Ukrainian ultra-radicals and neo-Nazis who first made up the driving force of Maidan, and then of Kiev’s punitive operation against population of the country’s southeast,” Konstantin Dolgov said at a regional conference with ethnic Russians of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

“We can find a host of concrete facts and confirmation to that, including in two editions of the White Book on [human rights violations in] Ukraine, prepared by the Russian Foreign Ministry,” he said.

He also cited Nils Muiznieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, as saying many European leaders were failing to fight against a growing threat of neo-Nazism and xenophobia.

Russia has repeatedly highlighted the issue in the European parliament, to the EU commissioner for human rights and other executive officers of the European Commission, he said.