Scandal in Europe over NATO Officers Wearing Nazi Symbols in Afghanistan

The Communist Party of the Czech Republic is demanding that the Defense Minister Martin Bartak overhauls the army after a number of scandals involving soldiers with neo-Nazi leanings.

This week two soldiers have been sacked for wearing Nazi symbols while serving in Afghanistan.

If Martin Bartak fails to present his vision of an effective army reform by December, the Communist faction in the Czech Parliament will push for his dismissal, announced faction leader Pavel Kovacik on Tuesday.
In the Baltic republics of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, neo-Nazi groups are largely marginalized from mainstream politics. They make themselves known at events and parades, such as in March when Latvian right-wingers commemorate Latvian Waffen SS soldiers who fought against the Soviets in World War II.

Right-wingers in the three Baltic countries - EU member states since 2004 - also target gay rights parades. In 2007 skinheads attacked with sticks and stones such a parade in the Estonian capital Tallinn, wounding several.

Ukraine, too, has seen its share of right-wing activity. In November neo-Nazi skinheads and Indian engineering students battled in a mass fist-fight involving hundreds in Zaporizhia in the heart of the country's industrial east.

Extremist nationalist groups are active in most cities of the former Soviet republic. Most members of such groups are unemployed teenagers or young men from low-income families.

Actual violence against ethnic minorities in Ukraine is an infrequent but recurring event. The most common targets are Jews and Muslim Tartars, but in recent years attacks against foreigners from Asia and Africa have increased.

Other new member countries of the European Union have also seen a rising level of right-wing activity and violence.

Last November in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice three right- wing extremists beat up a 16-year-old dark-skinned girl of Slovak and Cuban origin while yelling Nazi slogans.

Racist attacks, mostly against the Roma and foreign students, are not unusual in Slovakia. The police registered 188 racially-motivated crimes, including violent attacks, in 2006, an increase from 121 cases in 2005. Activists add that not all victims report attacks.

The Czech Republic's estimated 3,000 to 5,000 right-wing radicals remain an insignificant fringe group without a strong centralized leadership and political backing, according to Czech counter- intelligence.
Czech right-wingers have recently begun trying to gain visibility and promote their political ideas by organizing marches and protests in Czech towns.
In Poland, the all-Poland Youth, the youth wing of the Catholic- nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR) party, has been accused of having neo-Nazi sympathies. The group is known for its sometimes violent anti-gay protests.

Hungary, too, has seen a significant rise in the far right since the riots that hit Budapest in September 2006 when football hooligans and extreme-right activists attacked the headquarters of Hungarian Television following the leaking of a tape on which the prime minister admitted lying.

While the violence only continued sporadically for around five weeks, right-wing groups have been far more prominent since then.

There have been isolated attacks, particularly one on a gay rights parade that saw skinheads pelt marchers with rotten eggs, but the most worrying development for many was the formation last August of the Magyar Garda, a uniformed wing of extreme-right party Jobbik.

Jewish organisations and government officials have expressed concern over the group, which wears black uniforms Jewish groups say are similar to those worn by Hungarian fascists in the 1940s.

The guard has chosen as its coat of arms a variation of the medieval flag associated with Hungary's Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross party - in power for a brief period during World War II and responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Jews.

Moves have been made to disband the group, which now numbers over six hundred, but they have made themselves very visible, particularly with regard to their attitudes to Hungary's Roma minority.

Some 260 members of the guard marched through a Roma-majority town near Budapest in their uniforms in December, claiming they were simply protesting against violent crimes by Roma against Hungarians.

The long-established democracies of Western Europe have also not been immune to the neo-Nazi scourge with attacks and far-right movements in countries such as Spain and Greece.

Across the continent the picture looks broadly the same - the far right attracts unemployed, undereducated youth and those who oppose immigration. But there's little evidence that extreme right-wing parties will ever be able to attract significant popular support.

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[NewYorkHighRollers]

It's amazing how something like this quickly gets reported but you never see all the good news where they are teaching in schools and bringing the poor woman and children food over in the middle east. Makes you wonder when reading all this crap people post if they ever served or did anything good in their lives and helped someone out. I am proud of Nato and yes these actions hurt what they stand for but this is no reason for you to bash them. The killers are the ones who do the road bombs

[tusepagliacco]

"the real motivation"? These 2, like many other young men with warrior spirits know that the Nazis were fierce believers (maybe not all but many) and warriors. Hollywood without exaggeration has displayed how true, loyal, fierce, brave, etc Nazis were. So is it really surprising that modern day warriors might want to emulate them in some ways? I'm not saying it's right but it's obvious that many warrior spirits today respect the qualities of the old Nazis, thus they try to portray them

[LetGoAndLove]

WTF! SS Symbols!? My countrymen are over there with them? WTF?

[Tetsuoha]

The most nazi nation is the Jew.

[NewYorkHighRollers]

@timewilltell7 I have seen people in the middle east killing mass numbers for no reason so do more research before you hate on one side! Take this propaganda and shove it where the sun don't shine!

[NewYorkHighRollers]

@timewilltell7 we have muslims in the USA too problem with the middle east is they also hate on people they do not so don't judge what you do not know!!! Go FuK yourself!

[1355steveo]

@tusepagliacco Is this a habit of your? You know - talking out of your ass?

[timewilltell7]

@NewYorkHighRollers

watch John Pilger Breaking the Silence on line and his other one on Afghanistan - USA are murderers

[timewilltell7]

@NewYorkHighRollers

watch John Pilger on Afghanistan and his one called Breaking the Silence and you'll see how fucking good your motherfucking bombs are doing in the east

and im not muslim - just human

and they are not muslims either - its just a word to make you feel better about it - they are the same as you and me - afghanistani and muslim are just words - wherever you go men are men, women are women and children are children - 911 passports were saudi - why bomb afghanistan?

[hoolikassoolikas]

I hate jews so bad, I can taste it. And Im not even neo-nazi or anything, Im proud white man.

[hmfc1991]

lol alot of troops are nazis wake up ppl XD