The United States and Ukraine were the only countries that voted at the United Nations against a resolution submitted by Russia in favor of “combating the glorification of Nazism.”
All European Union members as well as Canada and Australia abstained during Thursday’s vote on the resolution, which passed thanks to a majority of 121 countries in favor, including Israel.
The resolution is widely seen as devised by Russia to isolate Ukraine and several other East European countries where anti-Russian sentiment has contributed to the government-led honoring of collaborators with Nazi Germany, including perpetrators of Holocaust atrocities, because they also fought against the Soviet Union.
“121 countries vote in favor, 55 abstain, mainly EU states, only 2 – USA & Ukraine – openly root for Nazism,” the Russian foreign ministry’s mission to South Africa wrote on Twitter.
The recurrent resolution has passed without difficulty for years at the General Assembly despite the United States and a handful other countries voting against it.
Last year, Stefanie Amadeo, deputy US representative to the economic and social council, told CBS News: “We condemn without reservation all forms of religious and ethnic intolerance or hatred at home and around the world. However, due to this resolution’s overly narrow scope and politicized nature, and because it calls for unacceptable limits on the fundamental freedom of expression, the United States cannot support it,” she continued.
The resolution’s full title is: “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.”