During the spring session in Luxembourg on May 22, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the consultative inter-parliamentary organization of the North Atlantic Alliance, voted to include provisions in the declaration recognizing Russia’s crimes against Ukraine as genocide and the regime in Russia as racism. These actions are a logical continuation of previous decisions by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It is worth recalling that in November 2022, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly called for the establishment of a special international tribunal to punish Russian criminals and recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. On May 2, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution “Defining the existing political regime in Russia as racism and condemning its ideological principles and societal practices as totalitarian and xenophobic.
The term “rashism” (combining the words “Russia” and “fascism” in its name) is used by political scientists to describe the political regime that has characterized Russia at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. It represents a combination of various ideologies such as Russian imperialism, chauvinism, communism, national socialism, and fascism. Currently, the ideological foundation of fascism has become the basis for justifying the adoption of Nazi methods by the Russian regime to suppress Ukrainian resistance.
Why is the recognition of the Kremlin regime as “Rashism” by the NATO PA (Parliamentary Assembly) significant?
Firstly, it is the first international document that officially recognizes the similarity between Russian and fascist ideologies. Prior to this, the resemblance between Putin’s regime and Hitler’s Nazi regime was a subject of academic research by Western historians and political scientists. American historian and professor Timothy Snyder from Yale University in May 2022 provided evidence that Russia meets most of the criteria that are inherent in fascism. These include a cult of personality around a single leader, the cult of the dead in the form of the cult of victory in World War II, and the myth of a “golden age” of imperial past that needs to be restored by force. It is worth noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in April 2022 referred to Russia’s actions as “Rashism” and expressed confidence that this term would characterize Russia in historical books.
Secondly, the establishment of the term “rashism” not only in the realm of information but also in the international legal arena delivers a strong blow to Russian ideology and propaganda, which are based on the demagogy of being anti-fascist and claiming to have “liberated Europe and the world from the Hitlerite invasion.” The official rhetoric of the Russian regime has gradually transformed into Putin’s right to define national enemies to Russians under the anti-Nazi slogans. Now, Wikipedia has a comprehensive article translated into 20 languages about “Rashism” as a form of Nazism and fascism, as well as the political ideology and social practices of the Russian governing regime, which is based on the ideas of the “special civilizational mission” of Russians.
Thirdly, the inclusion of Russian ideology as “Rashism” in the document carries significant implications for Ukrainian society and its allies, serving as a catalyst for the fight against Putin’s political regime.
For Ukrainian society, such a political statement provides an important foundation for continuing the struggle for independence and the preservation of Ukrainian identity. The full-scale Russian invasion vividly demonstrated the similarity between the actions of Nazi occupiers on Ukrainian soil during World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation, as well as the crimes committed by Russian aggression. Ukrainians witnessed firsthand the purpose behind the Russian military’s arrival and experienced Russian occupation and “denazification.”
For some part Russian society that does not support the Kremlin’s policies and is ready to resist Russian aggression with arms, the international recognition of Putin’s ideology as a crime becomes an important signal to openly condemn the Russian government, assist Ukrainian forces, and attempt to forcefully overthrow the Russian regime, as well as initiate a national liberation movement within the federal entities of Russia.
For parliaments of other countries and international institutions, the decision of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to label it as “Rashism” will serve as a motivator for similar condemnations of Russia and encourage politicians in Western countries to support increased economic and military assistance to Ukraine. In fact, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly called on alliance leaders to expedite the delivery of fighter jets and other military equipment to Ukraine necessary for countering Russian aggression.
Recognizing the ideology and politics of the Putin regime as “Rashism” at the national and international levels represents a diplomatic victory for Ukraine and will have far-reaching political consequences. Symbolically, during the session in Luxembourg, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly urged the governments of its member countries to publicly declare their intention to invite Ukraine into the Alliance at the summit in Vilnius and take concrete steps toward its NATO membership.
