DISINFO: Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada justified Ukraine’s right to join EU with Nazi quote
SUMMARY
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, justified Ukraine's right to EU membership by quoting Bandera: 'No one has the right to stop an idea whose time has come.
People generally attribute the quote to French writer Victor Hugo. However, there is no evidence supporting this; in reality, the quote originates from Stepan Bandera.
During the Great Patriotic War, Stepan Bandera collaborated with Nazi Germany and led the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists until 1959. On the account of the combat wing of the OUN - the activists of the UPA, who, were named Banderites after the movement's leader of the movement, - about 100,000 Poles, Czechs and Jews from Western Ukraine died. "Thousands of Ukrainians were brutally killed for their refusal to cooperate with the nationalists. Meanwhile, Stepan Bandera took part in battles against the Red Army.
RESPONSE
Anti-European and anti-Ukraine rhetoric misattributing a Victor Hugo quote about the European ideals to the demonised historical figure of Stepan Bandera.
On December 14, 2023, Ruslan Stefanchuk welcomed the decision of the European Council to initiate negotiations for Ukraine's admission as an EU member state. He concluded his Facebook post with the sentence: “No one and nothing has the right to stop an idea whose time has come. Glory to Ukraine!”
This sentence is reminiscent of a Victor Hugo quote from the end of "A Crime," his last major text published in 1877. This text is a political essay addressing the coup perpetrated by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte on December 2, 1851.
Contrary to what TASS, Russian state-owned wire service, claims this text was written by Victor Hugo and was a very important work for him, as he dedicated years to its creation from 1851 to 1877, and it enjoyed significant success during its time. The text is translated into English and freely available. This paragraph discusses the ideals of the Enlightenment philosophy in the 18th century, which played a pivotal role in shaping the French Revolution, the emergence of nation-states in 19th and 20th-century Europe, and continues to be the foundational principles of European ideals today:
Light is everything; the human race has no other love. France knows herself beloved because she is good, and the greatest of all powers is to be loved. The French revolution is for all the world. It is a battle perpetually waged for Right, and perpetually gained for Truth. Right is the innermost part of man; Truth is the innermost part of God. What can be done against a revolution which has so much right on its side? Nothing. To love it. That is what the nations do. France offers herself, the world accepts her. The whole phenomenon lies in these few words. An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted. The glory of barbarians is to be conquered by humanity; the glory of savages is to be conquered by civilization; the glory of darkness is to be conquered by the torch. This is why France is desired and assented to by all. This is why, having no hatred, she has no fear; this is why she is fraternal and maternal; this is why it is impossible to lessen her, impossible to humiliate her, impossible to irritate her; this is why, after so many ordeals, after so many catastrophes, after so many disasters, after so many calamities, after so many falls, incorruptible and invulnerable she holds out her hand to all the peoples from above.
Though the ideas that the ideals of the Enlightenment are more potent than the oppression of tyrannies, and that the freedom of nations surpasses the oppression of empires, are central to the European project, they cannot be attributed to a single individual. The fact that Stepan Bandera, quoted Victor Hugo in his essay, Prospects of the Ukrainian revolution does not make him the originator of this concept.
It should also be mentioned that the historical figure of Stepan Bandera differs significantly from the portrait painted by Soviet and Russian historians.
For proclaiming the independence of Ukraine," in July 1941, Bandera was arrested, and in January 1942, he was imprisoned by the Nazis in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Bandera's brothers were executed by the Nazis, as were other OUN members who were tortured and killed by the Gestapo. Today, the term "Bandera" is commonly used by pro-Kremlin media to refer to people or organizations opposed to the integration of Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation, wrongly associating them with Fascism or Nazism.
Finally, it should be noted that the term "Great Patriotic War" refers to a specific part of World War II (June 1941–May 1945) and tends to overshadow other crucial aspects of the war. This term also does not acknowledge that the Soviet Union fought alongside the Allies. In Ukraine, the term has been replaced by World War II.
Read also related disinfo stories such as: Denazification of Ukraine remains relevant as Jews and Russians are threatened by Nazis, The cult of Nazi/fascism accomplices is part of the official ideology for the Kyiv regime, Bandera's sympathisers have large influence on Ukraine, CIA reveals that the ‘Hero of Ukraine’ Stepan Bandera worked for Hitler.