By Susann Witt-Stahl, Junge Welt, Germany, Oct 31, 2024 Translation: Helmut-Harry Loewen
The members of the delegation of the 12th Special Brigade Azov were visibly proud as they posed in front of the cameras at NATO's European headquarters. After all, the official reception in Brussels in the middle of this month was nothing less than an accolade for the former Ukrainian fascist hooligan militia and, at least symbolically, a rite of initiation into the world's most powerful military alliance.
The neo-Nazi force, which was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard in October 2014, was represented by three fighters in camouflage uniforms, a representative of the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and a member of the Association of Azovstal Defender Families. These are not merely public relations photos for distribution on United 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky's media platform. They are perfectly suited as wishful images of the Ukrainian government's longed-for NATO accession. The Azov delegation was also invited to talks with the Deputy Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Marie-Doha Besancenot, and other representatives of the Western wartime alliance. In addition, there were said to have been various meetings with members of the EU Parliament from “different political groups.” Topics for discussion in Brussels included Russia’s “systematic disregard of the Geneva Conventions.”
NATO makes it all possible.
After a promotional and recruiting tour by the Ukrainian army's Azov brigade through Western European cities, including Berlin and Hamburg, had to be largely canceled in the summer, the unit managed to get “boots on the ground” in Germany in September after all. This was at the US Air Base in Ramstein. President Volodymyr Zelensky's delegation for the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, which was also attended by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius [SPD], included the neo-Nazi Dmitro Kosatsky. The Azov photographer has been celebrated as a pop star in the West since he published pictures of the battle for the Azov Steelworks in Mariupol in 2022. Kosatsky, who now works for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, was also present at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in June. “Jens Stoltenberg greeted me!!!” he boasted on his X channel about his audience with the then NATO Secretary General. The fact that Kosatsky used to post swastikas on social networks and, as the publicist Moss Robeson's research has shown, a photo of his leg tattoo with the emblem of SS concentration camp guard troops and the comment “I'm preparing for NATO standards": none of this apparently poses any obstacles to his career. The main thing is that Azov’s honour means fealty to NATO [Hauptsache, die Ehre von »Asow« heißt NATO-Treue].*
The troops' warriors have also long been trained by NATO. In March, its 12th Special Brigade announced on the Azov Telegram channel that one of its officers had successfully completed a Civil-Military Cooperation training course at the US Special Operations Command Europe, which has its headquarters in Stuttgart-Vaihingen. The good news was garnished with a photo of soldiers with the Azov ‘Wolfsangel’ flag, the Star-Spangled Banner and the national flag of Poland in front of a barracks (the symbols on other flags on display were made unrecognizable as a precaution).
As reported by veterans from the United States, for example, who were on the front line with the neo-Nazi unit in Ukraine, the special forces of the US and other NATO troops have long been regarded as idols by Azov. The fact that the Azov cult continues to go viral in the Western world is ensured by their culture industry with the distribution of mockumentaries such as “We Were Recruits” and kitschy hero comics. The same goes for the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO). This right-wing internet propaganda “army” proves that fascism and “values-oriented” NATO imperialism belong together (again today), like “Freedom” and “Democracy,” with its large range of merchandise consisting exclusively of junk that combines a shrill-pink queer aesthetic with testosterone-inoculated military combat style.
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* Witt-Stahl's sentence echoes the motto of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and the Schutzstaffel (SS), "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" [roughly: "My honour is loyalty"]. • Translator HHL
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