© New York Times/Sergey PonomarevDemonstrators this week in Kiev, Ukraine, practiced defending their barricades from riot police officers. As the uprising has unfolded, the role of the nationalist party Svoboda has grown.
The extreme right in the Ukraine played a key role in the toppling Victor Yanukovich, and they are already emerging as the most forceful voice in the transition.
On February 25th The Guardian ran a story on the increasing tensions over the Crimean peninsula and the danger posed by separatist elements in Ukraine. Part of that article covers the recent vote by the Ukrainian parliament to send former president Viktor Yanukovych to The Hague. The spokesman that they quoted on the issue was Oleh Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the Svoboda party, an extreme right group which has openly targeted Jews.
Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the nationalist Svoboda party, said: "It is very important that we had a positive vote today. Now we are inviting all the people of goodwill who have any materials including video, photos or papers that we may need to properly submit to the Hague tribunal the papers about crimes against people, crimes against Ukrainians, and violations of human rights that were committed by those criminals in Yanukovych's regime."
Comment: How hypocritical can one be? When violent groups attacked and took over public institutions in Ukraine and killed dozens of police men and injured hundreds of people, throwing molotov cocktails and firing live ammunition, neither the EU, the US or NATO condemned it but just placed the responsibility for all violence at the hands of the Ukrainian government.
Likewise both NATO and the US urge Russia to not take any action that could escalate tension or create misunderstanding, but over the last few months, we have seen European delegations and senior US officials meeting with the protest leaders and encouraging them to continue the protest despite their violent nature. It all stinks to high heaven.