All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" Всеукраїнське об'єднання «Свобода» | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Oleh Tyahnybok |
| Founded | 16 October 1995 (1995-10-16) (asSNPU) February 2004 (2004-02) (as Svoboda) |
| Preceded by | Social-National Party of Ukraine |
| Headquarters | Kyiv |
| Youth wing | C14 (2010–2014) |
| Paramilitary wing | Sich Battalion (2014–2015)[1] |
| Membership(2010) | 15,000[2][needs update] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[9] |
| European affiliation | Alliance of European National Movements (observer, 2011–2014) Nation Europa (2024–) |
| Colors | Blue Yellow |
| Verkhovna Rada | 1 / 450 |
| Regions[10] | 890 / 43,122 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheAll-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" (Ukrainian:Всеукраїнське об'єднання «Свобода»,romanized: Vseukrainske obiednannia "Svoboda"), commonly known asV.O. Svoboda or simplySvoboda, is anultranationalistpolitical party in Ukraine. It has been led byOleh Tyahnybok since 2004.
Its predecessor, theSocial-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) formed and officially registered as a political party in October 1995. The SNPU was characterized as aradical right-wing populist party that combined elements ofethnic ultranationalism andanti-communism. During the 1990s, it was accused ofneo-Nazism due to the party's recruitment ofskinheads and usage of neo-Nazi symbols.[11][12][13] Tyahnybok was elected in 2004 as the president of the party and shortly after he made efforts to moderate the party's image by changing the party's name and symbols and expelling neo-Nazi andneofascist groups.[14][15]
Although Tyahnybok expelled neofascist groups, Svoboda never abandoned ethnic ultranationalist views and he reaffirmed the party's commitment to its original xenophobic platform.[16] The party gained increasing popularity in the late 2000s and early 2010s, winning 10.45% of the vote in the2012 parliamentary election. Between 2009 and 2014, it was an observer member of the far-rightAlliance of European National Movements. It played a role in the2014 Ukrainian revolution andEuromaidan protests but its support dropped quickly following the2014 elections. Since then, the party has been polling below theelectoral threshold, and it currently hasone seat in theVerkhovna Rada.
Svoboda's economic platform isstatist and anti-liberal.[2] Its political position has been described asright-wing,[17][18] orfar-right.[19] Described as an ultranationalist,[20][21] right-wing populist party,[22][23] it expressed support and staged commemorations honoring early 20th century, Ukrainian far-right nationalist leaderStepan Bandera, and itopposes immigration,globalism andfree trade. It is staunchly anti-communist andconservative regarding social issues, and it favorseconomic nationalism andprotectionism.[24] The party has been described as "deeply anti-Semitic",[25][23][26] and "fascist",[27][28] though others say the party is no longer overtly anti-Semitic,[27] and is now best described as a "radicalnationalist party".[27][29]
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The Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) was registered as a party on 16 October 1995;[30][31] the constituent congress of the party took place on 13 October 1991, inLviv. The party was established by theSoviet-Afghan War veterans organization, the youth organization "Spadshchyna" (Heritage, headed byAndriy Parubiy), the Lviv Student Fraternity (headed byOleh Tyahnybok), and theRukh Guard (headed byYaroslav Andrushkiv andYuriy Kryvoruchko).[32] Dr.Yaroslav Andrushkiv was elected leader of the party. The party adopted a party emblem associated withfascism and which is used by neo-Nazi organizations in Europe.[33]
The SNPU's official program defined itself as an "irreconcilable enemy of Communist ideology". According to Svoboda's website, during the1994 Ukrainian parliamentary elections the party presented its platform as distinct from those of the communists and social democrats.[34]
In the1998 parliamentary elections, the party joined a bloc of parties (together with theAll-Ukrainian Political Movement "State Independence of Ukraine")[35] called "Fewer Words" (Ukrainian:Менше слів), which collected 0.16% of the national vote.[31] Party memberOleh Tyahnybok[36] was elected to theUkrainian Parliament in this election.[36] He became a member of thePeople's Movement of Ukraine faction.[36]
The SNPU established the paramilitary organizationPatriot of Ukraine in 1999 as an "Association of Support" for themilitary of Ukraine, and registered it with the Ministry of Justice. The paramilitary organization was disbanded in 2004 during the SNPU's reformation but was reconstituted as an independent organization in 2005.[2] Svoboda officially ended association with the group in 2007,[37] but they remained informally linked into the 2010s,[38] with representatives of Svoboda attending social campaigns such as protests against price increases and leafleting against drugs and alcohol.[39] In 2014, Svoboda was noted for clashing with the far-right groupRight Sector, a coalition which included Patriot of Ukraine.[40]
In 2001, the SNPU joined some actions of the "Ukraine without Kuchma" protest campaign and was active in forming the association of Ukraine's rightist parties and in supportingViktor Yushchenko's candidacy forprime minister, although it did not participate in the2002 parliamentary elections.[31] However, as a member ofVictor Yushchenko'sOur Ukraine bloc, Tyahnybok was reelected to the Ukrainian parliament.[36] The SNPU won two seats in theLviv oblast council of deputies and representation in the city and district councils in theLviv andVolyn oblasts.[34][independent source needed]
In 2004, the party had less than 1,000 members.[41]
In February 2004, the arrival of Oleh Tyahnybok as party leader led a significant change in moderating the Social-National Party's image.[2][42] It changed its name to the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda",[2] and abandoned the "I + N" (Ukrainian «Ідея Нації»"Idea Natsii" = "idea of a nation")Wolfsangel logo (a symbol popular amongneo-Nazi groups)[2][43] with a three-fingered hand reminiscent of the'Tryzub' pro-independence gesture of the late 1980s.[43] Svoboda also pushed neo-Nazi and other radical groups out of the party,[44] distancing itself from its neofascist past while retaining the support of extreme nationalists.[42] Andrushkiv, former head of the party, rejected Tyahnybok's claim that Svoboda was successor party to the SNPU and called Svoboda 'a different political phenomenon.' Both he andAndriy Parubiy would leave the 'new' party following its transformation.[45]
However, Tyahnybok never concealed that these changes were made primarily for image purposes.[46][47] Tyahnybok reaffirmed the party's commitment to its original racist and xenophobic platform in a speech following the 2004 convention.[48] The party remained associated with the 'wide social nationalist movement' (consisting of numerous organisations and websites) and gathered around theSocial-Nationalist Assembly which was set up in 2008.Yuri Mykhailyshyn, Tyahnybok's adviser who topped the list of Svoboda's Lviv branch in the 2010 municipal council elections, founded the InternetJoseph Goebbels Political Research Centre (the centre later changed Goebbels forErnst Jünger) in 2005.Patriot of Ukraine, a paramilitary organisation dissolved in 2004 and re-established in 2005 in a different legal form, continued to maintain ties with Svoboda. It was not until 2007 that this paramilitary organisation announced the end of its relationship with Svoboda.[49] Even then, some prominent Svoboda members, such as Andriy Illienko from Svoboda's Kyiv branch, continued to identify themselves with the ideas of Patriot of Ukraine, which still uses the Wolfsangel symbol.[46]
In 2004, Tyahnybok was expelled from theOur Ukraine parliamentary faction for a speech calling for Ukrainians to fight against a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia",[50] using pejorative terms for Russians and Jews alike,[48] and celebrated theOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists for having fought "Moscovites, Germans, Jews and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state."[43] The speech was delivered at the grave of a commander of theUkrainian Insurgent Army, where Tyahnybok praised its struggle against "Moskaly", a derogatory term for either Russians[51] orpan-Russian nationalists;[52] Germans; and "Zhydy", an archaic but controversial term for Jews in Ukraine due to it being a slur when used in theRussian language.[53][54] Tyahnybok's 2004 comments were widely circulated on the three TV channels controlled by the head of the Presidential Administration,Viktor Medvedchuk: State Channel 1, 1+1 and Inter.[50][52]
In the2006 local elections, the party obtained 4.2% of the votes and 4 (of 64) seats in theTernopil Oblast Council, 5.62% of the votes and 10 (of 84) seats in theLviv Oblast Council and 6.69% of the votes and 9 seats in theLviv city council.[41] During the2006 parliamentary elections, they received just 0.36%.[31][55]
In the2007 parliamentary elections, the party doubled its vote share, receiving 0.76% of the votes cast.[31][55] It was ranked eighth out of 20 parties. The non-participation of theCongress of Ukrainian Nationalists meant it was the only far-right party to participate.[41]
In autumn 2009, Svoboda joined theAlliance of European National Movements as the only organisation from outside theEuropean Union.[2] That year the party claimed to have 15,000 members.[41]
The party's significant electoral success was the2009 Ternopil Oblast local election when they obtained 34.69% of the votes and 50 seats out of 120 in theTernopil Oblast Council.[41][56] This was the best result for a far-right party in Ukraine's history.[41]
Tyahnybok's candidacy in the2010 presidential election did not build on the 2009 Ternopil success.[41] Tyahnybok received 1.43% of the vote.[57] Most of his votes he gained inLviv oblast,Ternopil Oblast andIvano-Frankivsk Oblast accounted to 5% of the vote.[58] In the second round, Tyahnybok did not endorse a candidate. He did present a list of some 20 demands for second round candidateYulia Tymoshenko had to fulfil first before gaining his endorsement—which included publicizing alleged secret deals Tymoshenko had withVladimir Putin and ridding herself of what he called Ukraine-haters in her close circles.[59]
During the2010 Ukrainian local elections, the party won between 20 and 30% of the votes inEastern Galicia, where it became one of the main forces in local government,[60] and accounted for 5.2% of the vote nationwide.[61] Analysts explained Svoboda's victory in Galicia during the 2010 elections as a result of the policies of theAzarov Government, who were seen as toopro-Russian by the electorate.[61][62] According toAndreas Umland,Senior Lecturer inPolitical Science at theNational University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,[63] Svoboda's increasing exposure in theUkrainian media has contributed to its recent successes.[62]
Between 2004 and 2010, party membership increased threefold to 15,000 members[2] (traditionally party membership is low in Ukraine.[64]
As of 2011, Svoboda had factions in eight of Ukraine's 25 regional councils, and in three of those Svoboda is the biggest faction.[65] Reportedly, the members and supporters of Svoboda are predominantly young people.[2]
Several clergymen of theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate,Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church andUkrainian Greek Catholic Church are Svoboda members and have stood for election as Svoboda candidates.[66] According to the party, they were chosen on election lists "to counterbalance opponents who include "Moscow priests" in their election lists and have aspirations to build the "Russian World" in Ukraine".[66] Per the party's desire to separate the clergy from politics, all churchmen will be recalled if a draftConstitution of Ukraine proposed by the party is approved.[66]
In early 2012, Svoboda was criticized in domestic and international media after party memberYuri Sirotyuk said that Ukrainian pop starGaitana, who is of African descent, was a poor choice to represent Ukraine at theEurovision Song Contest 2012 because she was "not an organic representative of the Ukrainian culture"[67][68] Sirotyuk stated that "It looks like we don't want to show our face, and Ukraine will be associated with a different continent, somewhere inAfrica."[67]
Starting approximately from 2009, and especially 2010, after pro-RussianYanukovych became Ukraine's president, his government, his party (Party of Regions), and loyal oligarchs have indirectly and directly helped Svoboda in a seemingly alliance of opposites.[69][70] In the run-up to the 2012 election, some Ukrainian media commentators and political analysts expected Svoboda's rising support would come at the expense ofmore mainstream elements of the opposition and to the benefit of the ruling "Party of Regions".[2][62][71]
In July 2012, the party agreed withBatkivshchyna on the distribution of the candidates insingle-seat constituencies (its share was 35 constituencies)[72] in theOctober 2012 parliamentary elections.[73] In the run up to these elections various opinion polls predicted the national vote (in a parliamentary election) of the party to increase six or sevenfold which would make it possible that the party would pass the 5%election threshold.[74] But the party's results in the elections were much better than that with 10.44 percent[nb 1] (almost a fourteenfold of its votes compared with the2007 parliamentary elections[31][50]) of the national votes and 38 out of 450 seats in theUkrainian Parliament.[75][76] The lion's share of these votes were won inWestern Ukraine (30–40% in threeoblasts), while inEastern Ukraine it won just 1% of the votes.[50] At the 116 foreign polling stations, Svoboda won most votes of all parties with 23,63% of all votes.[77] InLviv the party reportedly won over 50% of the votes.[78] InKyiv it became the second most popular party, afterFatherland.[79] Voting analysis showed it was the party most popular among voters with ahigher education (about 48% of its voters had a higher education).[79]Oleh Tyahnybok was elected leader of the party's parliamentary faction (also) on 12 December 2012.[80] On 19 October 2012 the party and Batkivshchyna signed an agreement "on the creation of a coalition of democratic forces in the new parliament".[81] The party is also coordinating its parliamentary activities withUkrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR).[82]
The BBC wrote at the time that "Svoboda" has "tapped a vast reservoir of protest votes" because of itsanti-corruption stance and because it has softened its own image.[50][79] According toSociological group "RATING", the percentage of the party's electorate who only use theUkrainian language decreased from 75% to 68% between September 2012 and March 2013.[83]
During the first two sessions of the newly elected parliament, Svoboda MPs and other opposition politicians physically clashed with other MPs during the election of a prime minister andspeaker amid allegations of continued voting for absent colleagues by government legislators.[84] Clashes again erupted in March 2013 between Svoboda andParty of Regions MPs, when ruling Party of Regions MPOleksandr Yefremov delivered a speech in Russian; the speech was drowned out by Svoboda MPs, shouting "Speak Ukrainian!" A later speech by Tyahnybok provoked chants of "Fascist" and a large, brief fist-fight between the two parties.[85]
Svoboda MP and deputy leaderIhor Miroshnychenko attracted international criticism in December 2012 for writing on hisFacebook wall that American actressMila Kunis, who was born in theUkrainian SSR of Jewish descent, is "not Ukrainian but azhydivka" (a pejorative term for a Jew).[50][53] According to Svoboda, the word does not have theantisemitic connotation in Ukrainian that it does in Russian.[53] Citing a Ukrainian academic dictionary, theMinistry of Justice considered the word archaic but not necessarily a slur.[53][86] Svoboda has repeatedly said that it would not stop using words it considers legitimate Ukrainian parlance.[53] Attempts to use antisemitism as a propaganda weapon against theEuromaidan movement were noted, and reports of widespread antisemitism were disputed by analysts, historians and human-rights activists.[87] In May 2013, Svoboda, Fatherland and UDAR announced that they would coordinate during the2015 Ukrainian presidential election.[88]
A 7–17 December 2013 opinion poll indicated that in a presidential election betweenViktor Yanukovych and Svoboda leader Tyahnybok Tyahnybok would win 28.8 percent of the popular vote to Yanukovych's 27.1 percent.[89] Svoboda participates in the ongoing pro-European Union protest campaign to influence regime change andintegration with the EU. When theVladimir Lenin monument inKyivwas toppled during Euromaidan, MPIhor Myroshnichenko accepted responsibility for the act on behalf of Svoboda.[90]
Eighteen Svoboda members were killed in the Euromaidan protests and the2014 Ukrainian revolution.[91]
On 27 February 2014, theYatsenyuk government was formed, including three Svoboda ministers: Deputy Prime MinisterOleksandr Sych, Agrarian Policy and Food MinisterIhor Shvaika and Environment and Natural Resources MinisterAndriy Mokhnyk.[92][93] Party members were appointed governors ofPoltava (Viktor Buhaychuk on 2 March 2014),Ternopil (Oleh Syrotyuk on 2 March) andRivne Oblasts (Sergey Rybachka on 3 March 2014).[94][95]
On 18 March 2014, Svoboda members posted an online video of party MPs beating actingNational Television Company of Ukraine presidentOleksandr Panteleymonov and trying to force him to sign a letter of resignation because he broadcast theCrimea accession to the Russian Federation ceremony in the Kremlin. In the video Panteleymonov's broadcast was called "state treason" by Svoboda MPMiroshnychenko, deputy head of the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information.[96] Tyahnybok condemned the attack ("Such actions were fine yesterday (during the protests), but now they are inappropriate"),[97] which was also condemned byAmnesty International and acting prime ministerArseniy Yatsenyuk.[98]
On 20 March 2014, Svoboda withdrew as observers from theAlliance of European National Movements (AENM) over sympathy by several alliance members for theRussian military intervention,[99] and in June the party formed theSich Battalion to fight in thewar in Donbas.[1]
The May2014 Ukrainian presidential election proved to be a defeat for Svoboda, whose candidateOleh Tyahnybok only received 1.16% of votes.[100]
On 24 July 2014, Svoboda and theUkrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) withdrew from the government coalition, stating they were doing so in order to pave the way for early parliamentary elections;[101] Prime MinisterArseniy Yatseniuk announced his resignation to the Verkhovna Rada a few hours later.[102] On 25 July, newly elected PresidentPetro Poroshenko dissolved the Verkhovna Rada and called snap elections in November.[103]
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In the October2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won six constituency seats; the party fell short by 0.29% to overcome the required 5% threshold to win seats on the nationwide list.[104] The party's election results thus halved compared with the 2012 election because of negative assessments of the activities of the local governments that included Svoboda members.[105] Svoboda won no constituencies in its former strongholdLviv Oblast.[105] Its election outcome was also undermined by the fact that in this election the party was not the only one using radically patriotic,anti-communist andanti-Russian slogans.[105]
On 12 November 2014, the party's ministers in the Yatsenyuk Government resigned (they becameacting ministers until a new Government was formed).[92] The parties governors ofPoltava Oblast,Ternopil Oblast andRivne Oblast also resigned and were formally dismissed by PresidentPetro Poroshenko on 18 November 2014.[106]
InWest Ukraine, Svoboda improved its electoral performance in the October2015 Ukrainian local elections.[107] In the elections its candidateRuslan Martsinkiv was elected Mayor ofIvano-Frankivsk.[108]
On 19 November 2018, Svoboda and fellowUkrainian nationalist political organizationsOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Melnykite faction),Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (Banderite faction),Right Sector andC14 endorsedRuslan Koshulynskyi candidacy in the2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[109] In the election he received 1.6% of the votes.[110]
In the2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, other parties joined Svoboda to form a united party list; theGovernmental Initiative of Yarosh,Right Sector andNational Corps.[111] However, in the election, they won 2.15% of the votes, less than half of the 5% election threshold, and thus no parliamentary seats via the national party list.[112] The party did win one constituency seat, inIvano-Frankivsk.[112] Svoboda candidateOksana Savchuk won the party's sole constituency seat with 46.68% of the votes in constituency 83.[113]
In the2020 Ukrainian local elections, Svoboda managed to secure first round re-election for their incumbent mayors in West Ukraine, inTernopil (Serhiy Nadal),Khmelnytskyi (Oleksandr Symсhyshyn) and Ivano-Frankivsk (Ruslan Martsinkiv), but again failed at expanding its support base into other parts of the country.[114] 863 people won seats in local councils on behalf of the party, that is about 2.61% of the available seats.[115] The election gave the party 19 mayors, making the party ninth in the number of elected mayors.[116]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2020) |
Ihor Kolomoyskyi, president of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, stated in 2010 that the party has shifted from "ultranationalist closer to the center."[117] However, the party have been involved in several actions against the country's minorities since then.[118][119][example needed]
In 2012, political scientistAndreas Umland predicted the party would continue to become more moderate over time, and that "there's a belief that Svoboda will change, once in the Verkhovna Rada, and that they may become propernational democrats."[50] Since then, the party has gained seats in parliament and has net over 10% of the national vote in the 2012 parliamentary elections. The US ambassador in Kyiv,Geoffrey Pyatt, said in 2014 that he had been "positively impressed" by Svoboda's evolution in opposition and by its behavior in parliament. "They have demonstrated their democratic bona fides," the ambassador asserted.[91]Alexander J. Motyl argues that Svoboda's brand of nationalism "has significantly diminished during, and possibly as a result of, theEuro Revolution."[120]
According to the party's website as of 2014, membership is restricted to those "who belong to the Ukrainian nation"; after its founding, atheists and former Communist party members were not eligible to join.[34][non-primary source needed]. According to historian Per Anders Rudling, the party recruited skinheads and football hooligans following its founding in 1991.[43]
On 29 August 2013, Svoboda announced the opening of a representative office, at Rue de la Science/Wetenschapsstraat 14b inBrussels, the same address as the 2012-foundedEuropean Centre for a Modern Ukraine.[121][122]
In 2014,Per Anders Rudling described Svoboda as a "neo-fascist" party, while Ivan Katchanovski disagreed.[27]
On 12 November 2014, the party's ministers in theYatsenyuk Government resigned (they becameacting ministers until a new Government was formed), they were:[92][123]
With the failures of theUkrainian Armed Forces in thewar in Donbas, many formerEuromaidan activists and right-wing parties formed volunteermilitias andparamilitary groups to fight the separatists, they are known as theUkrainian volunteer battalions.[124] In June 2014, Svoboda formed the"Sich" Battalion, with volunteers coming mostly fromKyiv.[125][126] The Sich Battalion was placed under command of theMinistry of Internal Affairs and given official status of a "Special Tasks Patrol Police".[127] All volunteers were required to have a military background, and included formerIraq War veterans.[126] The unit was designed for anti-terror operations since its inception.[128] The unit was deployed to the regions around the city ofDonetsk, mostly provided internal security and participated of combat operations aroundMarinka andAvdiivka.
By 2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs banned people registered in political parties of enlisting in their units. The Sich Battalion cut their official ties with Svoboda and was redesignated as the 4th Company "Sich" of the Kyiv Regiment, part of thespecial police of Kyiv.[129]
Svoboda's ideological base emanates fromOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Banderite faction) leaderYaroslav Stetsko's "Two Revolutions" doctrine (written in 1951).[130] The essence of this doctrine states: "the revolution will not end with the establishment of the Ukrainian state, but will go on to establish equal opportunities for all people to create and share material and spiritual values and in this respect the national revolution is also a social one".[130] A crucial condition for joining Svoboda is that its members must belong to the Ukrainiannation.[34]
In theWar in Donbas, the party favors resolving the conflict through use of force.[131][clarification needed]
Svoboda is a party ofUkrainian nationalism and in 2011 was noted for favoring a solelypresidential regime.[62] In 2013, however, the party pushed for constitutional reform which would limit the president's powers and return power to parliament.[132]
Party leader Tyahnybok has argued that "depictingnationalism as extremism is a cliché rooted inSoviet and modernglobalistpropaganda" and that "countries like modernJapan andIsrael are fully nationalistic states, but nobody accuses the Japanese of being extremists."[65] Tyahnybok defined nationalism as love of one's homeland and drew a distinction fromchauvinism and fascism which he defined as the superiority of one nation over another.[133]
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The party has often staged commemorations honouring Ukrainian nationalist leaderStepan Bandera and theUkrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).[68][134] Bandera led the OUN-B faction of theOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists in its struggle against the Soviets and later the Germans duringWorld War II to establish an independent Ukrainian state, but the UPA, established by OUN-B, also engaged in acts of ethnic cleansing including themassacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.[135][excessive citations] In a 2011 march organized by Svoboda to celebrate the World War II-eraWaffen-SS Galicia Division, participants shouted "one race, one nation, one Fatherland."[136][137]
The party views the dominating role ofUkraine's oligarchy as "devastating".[138][independent source needed] While oligarchs have typically played a major role in the funding of other Ukrainian parties,[139] Svoboda claims to receive no financial support from oligarchs, but rather from Ukraine'ssmall and medium-sized businesses.[140][independent source needed]
Svoboda is known for itsanti-communist stance, and several party activists over the years have been accused of trying to destroyCommunist-era statues.[141][142]
On 16 February 2013, police in Ukraine opened a criminal case on charges of hooliganism against nationalist activists led by Svoboda Supreme Rada deputy Ihor Miroshnychenko for the dismantling of a statue ofVladimir Lenin inOkhtyrka,Sumy Oblast. Miroshnychenko said: "There is no place for Communist symbols and ideology in European Ukraine and if the authorities cannot get rid of them, we will do it ourselves." According to police, Miroshnychenko climbed the statue and put a rope around Lenin's figure, which was then pulled down by a truck.[143]
Svoboda supports conservative values, and opposes abortion andgay rights.[144][145] In 2012,Human Rights Watch condemned Svoboda for disrupting a gay rights rally, called "a Sabbath of 50 perverts" in an official statement by Svoboda.[146]
Svoboda opposed legislation in 2013 that would have barred employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of their sexual orientation.[147] Journalist David Stern describes the party as a "driving force" behind anti-gay politics in Ukraine, but states that many of its members may not share all its controversial positions.[148]
In April 2013, three Svoboda MPs sponsored a bill banning abortions except in cases involving severe pathology, a medical risk to a woman's life, and rape when proven in court.[149][150] Future Vice Prime MinisterOleksandr Sych, who has long opposed abortion, was one of the authors of the bill and responded to a question about what a pregnant woman should do if she failed to prove the rape in court by encouraging women to "lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including refraining from drinking alcohol and being in controversial company."[149][150][151][152]
Svoboda has been described as anantisemitic and sometimes aneo-Nazi party by some journalists,[136][153] organizations that monitor hate speech,[154] Jewish organizations such as theUkrainian Jewish Committee,[155][156] and political opponents.[52]
In 2004, leader of Svoboda, Oleh Tyahnybok said that a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia" controls Ukraine and attacked in 2005 what he said is the "criminal activities of organized Jewry in Ukraine".[157][50] Svoboda advisorYuriy Mykhalchyshyn started a blog called "'Joseph Goebbels Political Research Centre" in 2005, later changing "Joseph Goebbels" to "Ernst Jünger."[2] Mykhalchyshyn wrote a book in 2010 citing works by Nazi theoristsErnst Röhm,Gregor Strasser and Goebbels.[50][158][159] Elsewhere Mykhalchyshyn referred tothe Holocaust as a "period of Light in history".[160] According toSegodnya, the party's 2011 congress was addressed byAndrey Sereda [ru], the leader of the bandKomu Vnyz, who describes himself as a "selective anti-Semite"[161] and who allegedly gave aNazi-style salute (which a fellow band member described as aroman salute rather than a Nazi gesture).[162]
In 2009, due to Svoboda's efforts, the proposal to build a statue of the Romanian MarshalAlexandru Averescu inOzerne [ro], in southern Ukraine (his native village), was rejected.[163]
In December 2012, theEuropean Parliament expressed concern regarding Svoboda's growing support, recalling "that racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic views go against theEU's fundamental values and principles," and appealed "to pro-democratic parties in theVerkhovna Rada not to associate with, endorse or form coalitions with" Svoboda.[164] Party leaderOleh Tyahnybok stated in March 2013 that the EU warning against Svoboda's influence was the result of "Moscow agents working through aBulgarian socialist MP".[165] Referencing a similar resolution made by theNATO Parliamentary Assembly, Tyahnybok claimed it to be a result of a mud-slinging campaign by political opponents, stating: "When we did not have a parliamentary faction or normal channels for contacting influential groups in the European Union, a very negative image of Svoboda was created and in an extremely crude fashion." However, after speaking to European MP's he stated they "admitted that they had received completely different information about us."[165] Tyahnybok furthermore stated that "spin doctors who are working against Svoboda" cover up the non-controversial points in the party's election programme "by promoting some clearly secondary issues through mass media outlets controlled by pro-government forces".[165]
During a Party of Regions rally in Kyiv to counter the ongoingEuromaidan protests, MPOlena Bondarenko called Tyahnybok a "traitor" and one "who helps the Kremlin and Moscow." Her words were altered to read on her party's website that he was instead a "Nazi" and that "Nazis are not just disrespected, they are outlawed in Europe and throughout the civilized world".[166]
Svoboda members have denied the party is antisemitic.[167] Party leader Tyahnybok stated in November 2012 "Svoboda is not an anti-Semitic party, Svoboda is not a xenophobic party. Svoboda is not an anti-Russian party. Svoboda is not an anti-European party. Svoboda is simply and only a pro-Ukrainian party".[75] In defense of these accusations, Tyahnybok has stated "I have repeatedly said that Svoboda is not an anti-Semitic organization. If you have any comments on our views, go to court. But nobody will, because everyone understands that even biased Ukrainian courts cannot pass any sentence against Svoboda because we do not violate Ukrainian laws."[75][168] Tyahnybok says a criminal case was opened against him for promoting racial rights, but he managed to win all the court cases and protect his name.[133]
According toDer Spiegel in 2014, "anti-Semitism is part of the extremist party's platform," which rejects certain minority and human rights.[153] The paper reported that in 2013 a Svoboda youth leader distributed Nazi propaganda written by Joseph Goebbels.[153] According to theAlgemeiner Journal in 2013, "Svoboda supporters include among their heroes leaders of pro-Nazi World War II organizations known for theiratrocities against Jews andPoles, such as theOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), theUkrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), and the14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division."[169]
Prominent Ukrainian journalist and president ofTVi ChannelVitaly Portnikov defended Svoboda against criticism, as he noted he is often questioned for supporting party leader Oleh Tyahnybok despite himself being Jewish. Portnikov said, "I [stand with them] with great pleasure, because Oleh wants Ukraine to be part of the European Union" and that "presently Svoboda is acting in a very decent way, and I see no problem there. Right-wing parties function in every European country."[18]
Ukrainian media associated with theParty of Regions, theCommunist Party of Ukraine, andRussophile groups contributed to a trend of characterizing Svoboda as a "Nazi menace."[2] Political analyst Olszański argued that voters from southern or eastern Ukraine, especially those who are poor, less educated, or attached to a "Soviet historical narrative," are hostile tonationalism, easily convinced that Svoboda is the modern analog of the Nazi invaders, and further that the Party of Regions is the only force capable of stopping a 'brown revenge'.[2] According to political scientistTaras Kuzio, the label "nationalist" is "disastrous" in Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine and used as an epithet by political opponents.[52]
Political scientist Tadeusz A. Olszański wrote in 2011 that the social-nationalist ideology which Svoboda formerly adhered to included "openly racist rhetoric" concerning 'white supremacy' following its establishment in 1991, and that comparisons with Nazism have been legitimized by its history.[2]David Fishman said in 2015 that there are people in Svoboda who "embrace [Stepan] Bandera's fascist and anti-Semitic legacy".[170]
Andreas Umland, a political scientist at theNational University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,[63] has asserted in 2010 that "Svoboda was a racist party promoting explicitly ethnocentric and anti-Semitic ideas".[171] He also believes that internally, Svoboda "is much more radical and xenophobic than what we see".[75] However, Umland also stated in 2012 that he believes the party will continue to become more moderate over time, stating that "there's a belief that Svoboda will change, once in the Verkhovna Rada, and that they may become proper national democrats".[50]
Olexiy Haran, a political science professor at theKyiv-Mohyla Academy, said in 2014 "There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding Svoboda" and that the party is not fascist, but radical.[172]Alexander J. Motyl contended in 2014 that Svoboda is not fascist, neither in behaviour or in ideology, and that "they are far more like theTea Party or right-wingRepublicans than like fascists or neo-Nazis."[120][173]
According toAnton Shekhovtsov in 2014, an expert on radical parties in Europe, "The main peculiarity of the Ukrainian far right is that its main enemy is not immigrants ornational minorities, as often happens with theEU-based far right, but theKremlin".[174]
Thirty members of theIsraeliKnesset condemned the party in a signed letter addressed to the President of the European Parliament. In the letter the Israeli politicians accused Svoboda of "openly glorifying Nazi murder" and "Nazi war criminals".[citation needed] In May 2013 theWorld Jewish Congress labelled the party as "neo-Nazi" and called for European governments to ban them.[175]
TheAnti-Defamation League has referred to Svoboda as an ultranationalist party with a "history of anti-Semitism and platform of ethnic nationalism".[176]
Ukraine's chief rabbiYaakov Bleich said "Svoboda is an enigma in many ways," calling it "a right-wing, nationalist party with anti-Semitic elements in it."[177] Vyacheslav A. Likhachev of theEurasian Jewish Congress, said that the "party has a very anti-Semitic core in its ideology," and that it leads to "symbolic legitimization of neo-Nazis and anti-Semitic ideology in the eyes of society."[78]
Member of parliament from the pro-presidential Party of Regions[177] and president of theJewish Committee of Ukraine,Oleksandr Feldman, criticized Svoboda as a "party which is notorious for regularly injecting anti-Semitism into their speeches and public pronouncements" and accused the party of "rallying behind this recognition and exploited mistrust ofJews to gain popularity among some in the lower class who painfully welcomed the chance to be a part of campaigns of hate".[178][179] Feldman also writes that Svoboda has helped erode the shame associated with open expressions of anti-Semitism and other ethnic hatreds.[180] Feldman has been an advocate for the Party of Regions and presidentViktor Yanukovych, reportedly also funding the latter's public relations firm.[179] During theEuromaidan protests, Feldman said the protests had degenerated into "ultra-nationalism and anti-Semitism," and called for opposition leaders Arseniy Yatseniuk and Vitali Klitschko to distance themselves from Svoboda. Four groups, including theUkrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, said they have seen no upsurge in antisemitic attacks. "We call on Ukrainian citizens and foreign observers to remain calm and critically assess the panic-mongering statements in the media regarding anti-Semitism in the country," the groups said in a statement on the website of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.[177]
In 2012, international human rights organization theSimon Wiesenthal Center placed Svoboda party leader Oleg Tyahnybok fifth in its list of the top 10 antisemites and haters of Israel, based on his previous comments regarding Jews in Ukraine.[181]
Party leaderOleh Tyahnybok (in January 2011) has described theAzarov Government and the presidency ofViktor Yanukovych "aKremlincolonial administration",[65] referencing Svoboda's opposition to perceived Russian influences in Ukrainian politics.
Before the2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, most of the radical points which were present on the Svoboda's original party platform vanished from the official election program that Svoboda filed with theCentral Election Commission of Ukraine. In its place, a tamer, populist program focused on the impeachment of PresidentViktor Yanukovych and the renunciation of the 2010 Kharkiv agreements that letRussia'sBlack Sea Fleet stay inCrimea through 2042 was used.[79] In its campaign for the2008 Kyiv local elections the party also used less ethnic nationalist terms and it relied more on a strong anti-establishment, populist and anti-corruption rhetoric.[41]
Svoboda's platform is called "Our Own Authorities, Our Own Property, Our Own Dignity, on Our Own God-Given Land."[133] and includes the following points:
Svoboda also states in its programme that it is both possible and necessary to make Ukraine the "geopolitical centre ofEurope".[62] TheEuropean Union is not mentioned in the programme.[2] According to Party leaderOleh Tyahnybok the programme is a worldview based on Christian values and the "rejection of various deviations".[165]
Member of parliament Ihor Miroshnychenko asked the head of theKyiv City State AdministrationOleksandr Popov on 7 March 2013 to ban a march that was held the next day because he believed it would "contribute to promoting sexual orientation" and he further stated in his request "homosexuality provokes sexually transmitted diseases andAIDS".[185] The 8 March rally was in fact not an LGBT march but organized byfeminist organizations.[186]
In late January 2013, Svoboda urged Ukrainians to boycott revised Ukrainian history textbooks and to give up the teaching of theRussian language in school, calling Ukrainians "to categorically refuse to study in school the language of the occupier – Russian, as a further reliable means of the assimilation of Ukrainians".[187]On 23 February 2014 following the2014 Ukrainian revolution, Svoboda supported legislation abolishing the law on regional languages making Ukrainian the sole state language at all levels.[188] This proposal was vetoed by acting PresidentOleksandr Turchynov.[189][190]
| Date | Party leader | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1995–2004 | Yaroslav Andrushkiv | |
| 2004–present | Oleh Tyahnybok |
| Year | Popular vote | % of popular vote | Overall seats won | Seat change | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 49,483 | 0.20 | 0 / 450 |  0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1998 | 45,155 | 0.20 | 1 / 450 |  1 | Opposition |
| 2002 | did not participate | 0 / 450 |  1 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2006 | 91,321 | 0.36 | 0 / 450 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2007 | 178,660 | 0.76 | 0 / 450 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2012 | 2,129,246 | 10.45 | 37 / 450 | 37 | Opposition (2012–2014) |
| First Yatsenyuk government (2014) | |||||
| 2014 | 741,517 | 4.71 | 6 / 450 | 31 | Opposition |
| 2019[a] | 315,530 | 2.15 | 1 / 450 | 5 | Opposition |
| Election year | Candidate | # of 1st round votes | % of 1st round vote | # of 2nd round votes | % of 2nd round vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Oleh Tyahnybok | 352,282 | 1.43 | — | — |
| 2014 | Oleh Tyahnybok | 210,476 | 1.16 #10 | ||
| 2019 | Ruslan Koshulynskyi | 307,244 | 1.62 #9 |
Neo-fascism in Eastern Europe served as a primary force in Croatia with the Croatian Democratic Union (1990-2000); it has participated in government coalitions: the Greater Romania Party (1995), the Slovak National Party (1994-1998) and the Svoboda and Right Sector parties in the Ukraine (2014);
She apparently is in effective control of the new government, which includes cabinet ministers from the neo-fascist Svoboda Party.
Anti-Semitism only permeates Ukraine's far-right parties, such as Svoboda... Ukraine's economic nationalists are to be found in the extreme right (Svoboda) and centrist parties that propagate economic nationalism and economic protectionism.
KUN and Svoboda are also Russophobic and antisemitic
The far-right, anti-Semitic Svoboda party of Oleh Tyahnybok is also in evidence in the square. The third organized element is the Batkivschnya (Fatherland) party, which is close to Timoshenko.
Per Anders Rudling, an associate professor atLund University in Sweden and researcher on Ukrainian extremists, has described Svoboda as "neo-fascist". He told Britain'sChannel 4 News: "Two weeks ago I could never have predicted this. A neo-fascist party like Svoboda getting the deputy prime minister position is news in its own right." But Ivan Katchanovski, a political scientist at theUniversity of Ottawa who has studied the far-right in Ukraine, disagreed that Svoboda was so extreme. "Svoboda is currently best described as a radical nationalist party, and not as fascist or neo-Nazi," he said. "It is now not overtly anti-Semitic."
While Svoboda campaigns firmly for EU membership and Western values, their leaders, including Tyahnybok, have made anti-Semitic and racist remarks to protests by Jewish and other rights groups. The group also campaigns for strict conservative values and has called for banning abortions and spoken out against gay rights.
Moreover, Svoboda expresses extreme hostility towards homosexuals – party members once attacked and sprayed tear gas at the participants of a gay rights rally in the capital Kiev.
The parliament of ex-Soviet Ukraine on Tuesday indefinitely postponed a vote on a bill that would have barred employers from rejecting workers based on their sexual orientation as hundreds of anti-gay activists protested outside. The European Union-backed legislation had been up for a vote on Tuesday after a strong bid by President Viktor Yanukovych's government – keen to eventually join the 27-nation bloc – to get its rights laws in line with Western standards. But the bill was opposed in parliament by the Communist Party and the nationalist Svoboda group that sees most of its support in Catholic Ukrainian-speaking regions in the west of the country.
the right-wing nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) Party... is allied with France's right-wingFront National and with the Italian neo-fascist groupFiamma Tricolore...anti-Semitism is part of the extremist party's platform
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