Ukrainian-French Nationalist International

Paradoxical as it is, a paraphrased communist slogan could well become a nationalist one. At least, Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the French National Front, greeting delegates of the sixth congress of the Social National Party of Ukraine held the Sunday before last at the Lviv Mariya Zankovetska Theater, proclaimed: “Nationalists of all lands, unite!” The question who the nationalists of the two countries are going to unite against has also been settled: against communism and cosmopolitism. What is more, Mr. Le Pen sees no basic difference between these two trends. The only difference is that one system represses the criticism of communism in a harsh way, while the other does the same with a charming Hollywood smile. This can be confirmed by the wave of protest that rose in Europe after the Austrian Party of Liberty came to power. That same day, the oblast state administration decided to actively observe the Day of Heroes, a holiday established by the Ukrainian emigration. The point is it is in May that the main figures of the Ukrainian national movement tragically died. Several hundred Lviv and rural schoolchildren gathered on the square in front of the Taras Shevchenko monument. Although it was very cold, the children marched quite cheerfully to nationalist underground songs. The speeches of Stepan Senchuk, chairman of the Lviv oblast state administration and oblast council, and Lviv Mayor Vasyl Kuibida confirmed that the state supports this formerly- banned holiday. The latter culminated in distributing 60 Tavriya autos to people who had made special contributions to the OUN-UPA struggle, The Day’s Oleksandr SYRTSOV reports.