The EU, along with Germany, NATO, the USA, and Ukraine, places a strong emphasis on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the protection of minorities. The EU has mechanisms to support these principles, such as the European Court of Human Rights. On the other hand, fascist regimes are known for their oppressive nature, including censorship, persecution of political opponents, and violations of human rights, writes Truthmeter.mk.
Under the content-sharing agreement between Truthmeter.mk and Meta.mk, we republish the text in full below:
We are fact-checking a post on Facebook which includes a photograph with the flags of Ukraine, the US, Germany (with its coat of arms), the EU and NATO, along with the caption:
Your time will come, you fascist trash.
This is just one in a series of posts attempting to discredit Western countries and accuse them of fascism without any evidence. This is also done against the EU and NATO, despite their values being diametrically opposed to fascism. The photo also features a sleeping bear with the Russian flag on it, making this post part of the propaganda aimed at glorifying Russia and portraying it as a champion against fascism, with which Germany, the USA, Ukraine, as well as the EU and NATO, are supposedly not aligned.
The difference between democratic and fascist regimes is enormous
The EU, along with Germany, NATO, the USA, and Ukraine, places a strong emphasis on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the protection of minorities, especially now that Ukraine is on the verge of starting accession negotiations. The EU has mechanisms to support these principles, such as the European Court of Human Rights.
On the other hand, fascist regimes are known for their oppressive nature, including censorship, persecution of political opponents, and violations of human rights. The EU celebrates cultural diversity and encourages cooperation among different nations. It strives to foster a sense of European identity while respecting national identities. Fascism promotes a homogenous national identity and often involves aggressive nationalism and xenophobia.
The European Union is founded on principles that are entirely contrary to those of fascism. It is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are fundamentally democratic and adhere to the principles of liberal democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Fascism is an extreme right-wing, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leadership and the violent suppression of any opposition.
The post also targets Ukraine, which has long been the subject of Kremlin disinformation thatclaims that Ukraine is a fascist or Nazi country, or that it is governed by neo-Nazis. This narrative is then used to justify Russia’s military invasion of the country. Namely, this was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first narratives used to justify the war at the onset of the unprovoked military invasion, when he announced the so-called “denazification” of Ukraine. However, Ukraine is a country where millions died fighting against Nazism during World War II, and where the Nazi ideology is banned.
The current Ukrainian government is neither fascist nor dictatorial, nor is it connected to a Nazi past in any way. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was democratically elected in fair elections, receiving 73 percent of the vote in the 2019 presidential elections. This narrative has been debunked by Truthmeter at least twice, as can be seen here and here.
Kremlin has accused democratic countries of fascism before
As EuVsDisinfo reports, Russian state-controlled media have claimed that various countries and entities are governed by Nazis or led by Nazi ideology. EUvsDisinfo has been keeping track of such accusations since 2015 on their well-documented database of EUvsDisinfo. For instance, the information on the database reveals that the Kremlin narratives have included claims that Moldova is governed by fascists, as well as the Baltic states and Poland.
Furthermore, Russia has claimed that Europe, including the European Parliament, “supports” fascism. Speaking in Vladivostok six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin even speculated that the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, “would have been on the side of the fascists if he had lived in the thirties.”
Certain individuals or smaller groups with fascistic viewpoints, which do not have representation in parliaments or decision-making at high levels, may exist in all countries worldwide. However, this does not make these entire countries fascist; rather, it makes them exceptions, enabled precisely by the broadly allowed pluralism of opinions and associations that democracy allows.
Due to all of the above-noted facts, the fact-checked post is assessed as untrue.
