No EU support for Russia's glorification resolution at UN General Assembly's Third Committee
On 21 November UNGA Third Committee voted on the annual resolution on combating glorification of nazism and other contemporary forms of racism submitted by the Russian Federation. The resolution was adopted by 115 votes in favour, 3 against, and 55 abstentions. All EU member states, including Lithuania, abstained on the resolution.
In a strong explanation of vote drafted with the active participation of Lithuania and the other Baltic states, the member states of the European Union deplored Russia‘s continued manipulation of the resolution to bring up matters unrelated to combating racism, and noted that Russia was seeking to monopolise the interpretation of history, as seen from the recent attempts to justify the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.
In its statement, the EU also stressed that Russia’s illegal actions and violations of international law in Ukraine under the pretext of combatting Nazism were unacceptable. The statement went on to refute the myth of the “liberation” of Europe after World war II. The EU reiterated its commitment to combatting racism in all its forms and underlined readiness to continue a constructive debate on the matter.
Since 2006, the Russian Federation has been submitting the resolution on combating glorification of nazism and other contemporary forms of racism to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on an annual basis. The EU Member States traditionally abstain on this resolution. The Third Committee of the General Assembly addresses human rights issues, humanitarian, social and cultural affairs.
