Rehabilitation of Nazism advancing in Moldova

By Lucas Leiroz

The memory of WWII is being disturbed in countries co-opted by NATO. States “allied” with the US are banning symbols related to the victory against Nazism. In practice, the excuse of repudiating the “Russian invasion of Ukraine” is working to legitimize truly unacceptable acts, such as the rehabilitation of Nazism.

Moldova, an ex-Soviet country that has been going through a strong process of Western-backed anti-Russian brainwashing, has decided to punish people who wear the St. George ribbon, an important Russian national symbol related to the Soviet victory against the Nazis. According to Viorel Cernauteanu, inspector general of the Moldovan Police, the ribbon is a “symbol of Russian aggression”, and is inadmissible on Moldovan territory.

“Selling, storing, producing and wearing a two-colour ribbon, which is a symbol of aggression is currently banned (…) We all must abide by the rules,” Carnauteanu said.

In fact, the ban is not new. Moldovan authorities passed a law banning the St. George ribbon in April 2022, in a clear gesture of reaction to the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. However, the actual persecution of ordinary people who use the symbols is getting worse day by day, reaching its peak this year.

Moldovan law establishes fines of up to 500 dollars for individuals and 1,700 dollars for companies that violate the measure. In other words, Chisinau responded to the Russian initiative to denazify Ukraine with a clear gesture of repudiation against the memory of the anti-Nazi struggle, taking significant steps towards the rehabilitation of this harmful ideology in the country.

This measure has been, not surprisingly, supported by the ultranationalist sectors of Moldovan society, who despise not only Soviet memory but also any possibility of friendly relations with the Russian Federation. Historical resentment has been a key factor in promoting Western brainwashing among Moldovans. NATO has used this troubled social reality to advance its agendas and expand anti-Russian hostility in the region.

Despite remembering the Soviet military victory, the St. George ribbon is not only related to the communist past alone and should not be considered an ideological symbol. The end of the Nazi occupation is extremely important for all people in the post-Soviet space, where 27 million citizens were murdered by German troops. Until recently, the need to celebrate the memory of the heroes who died in the battle against the Nazis was recognised by everyone in the region, however, to increase hatred against Russia, the West has encouraged the restoration of racist nationalism, which is endorsing a wave of disdain for Soviet memory.

Moldova is not the only country banning Soviet memory. The anti-Russian wave is spreading to several ex-communist states. For example, Estonia also banned any symbols related to the USSR, including the St. George ribbon. Not only that but it is also forbidden to play any military music from the Great Patriotic War, resulting in a total “cancellation” of the Soviet past and anti-Nazi memory. As a direct result of these measures, fascism and Russophobic racism are growing in the region, leading to many problems in the Eastern European security architecture.

For Russians, Nazism is an evil to be combated. The Nazi phenomenon is not “something of the past”, but a permanent problem, which is constantly used by Russia’s enemies to generate mobilisation against the country. Ukraine was the biggest experiment in the rehabilitation of Nazism ever carried out. Since 2014, Hitlerist ideology has been a key factor in the policies of the Maidan Junta. Ultranationalist militias were used to kill Russian civilians in the eastern regions, generating the genocide in Donbas. Without any chance of resolving this situation by peaceful means, after eight years of failed diplomacy, Moscow launched a special military operation to denazify Ukraine in 2022.

Ironically, some European countries are reacting to the denazification of Ukraine by promoting their own Nazification. The repudiation of the memory of Soviet heroes and the promotion of anti-Russian racism tend to generate political scenarios in other European countries similar to that of Ukraine. In the Baltic countries, apartheid measures against ethnic Russians have already been implemented since 2022. In Moldova, regions friendly to Russia, such as Gagauzia and Transnistria, have been threatened by the government, with strong Western pressure for a civil conflict to begin in the country.

Nazism is a real threat in Europe. NATO uses Nazism as an anti-Russian ideological tool. Moscow does its best not to react militarily to such threats, but if this Nazification begins to have real effects on innocent Russians abroad, there will be a serious security crisis in the region.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, and military expert.