In the context of the war in Ukraine – and with Russia justifying its invasion, which began on 24 February, by the desire to "denazify" the country – many states that had previously abstained decided to vote against the resolution

In its explanation of the vote, the European Union recalled that it had been advocating "for years that the fight against extremism and the condemnation of the despicable ideology of Nazism must not be misused and co-opted for politically motivated purposes that seek to excuse new violations and abuses of human rights."

According to the press release published on the UN website, Ukraine called this text hypocritical believing that, contrary to its title, it was a pretext used by Russia to justify its brutal war against its country and the despicable crimes committed against humanity.

The countries opposing the resolution emphasize at every turn that they do not in any way condone the Third Reich. "We reaffirm our strongest condemnation of all forms of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," Ukraine insisted in 2019, while recalling that 8 million Ukrainians died in the Nazi offensive.

Before the vote, Australia managed to get an amendment to the draft resolution adopted (63 votes in favor, 23 against and 65 abstentions) inserting a new paragraph in which the General Assembly "notes with alarm that the Russian Federation has sought to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine on the purported basis of eliminating neo-Nazism, and underlines that the pretextual use of neo-Nazism to justify territorial aggression seriously undermines genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism."

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/11/09/why-france-and-51-other-countries-voted-against-the-un-resolution-condemning-nazism_6003471_8.html

Hmm...

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

France: Imperializing and committing atrocities in Vietnam, Algeria, and much of Africa for decades. Has strong relationship with the US and Israel. Votes with US and goes along with all its wars.

Algeria: No relationship with Israel. Votes against genocide.

[–] Alfredolin@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

Wrong on this one. France did show it can say no! (and then France had another limp president who ran back to US with its tail between its legs... Anyway.)

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Thanks for the context.

Given Russia submitted the text, and given how european countries voted, I suspect this is mostly about Russia looking for justifications for attacking a neighbour and grabbing land.

Defending Nazism or showing Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany. Holocaust denial is illegal in several european countries. Yet they abstained.

They'd probably vote for such a text if it came from another country that doesn't "undermine genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism"

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Seems like refusing to condemn Nazism would vindicate Russia's accusations

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Seached and found that the European Union published an explanation for its vote on a similar draft submitted by 2022 by Russia.

EU Explanation of Vote – UN General Assembly: Draft Resolution on Combating glorification of Nazism

This both explain the EU's rationale for not voting Russia's draft, and explicitly condemn Niazism

The European Union is unequivocal in its commitment to the global fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, anti-semitism and related intolerance. Our joint fight against contemporary forms of all extremist and totalitarian ideologies, including neo-Nazism, must be a joint priority for the whole international community.