Zelenskyy's speech to the Greek Parliament includes members of the Nazi Azov Battalion
"A member of the Mariupol-based neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, who claimed to be Greek and identified himself as Mikhail, caused controversy as he spoke in the Greek Parliament."
Highly paid actor on the world stage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s script writers appear to have overstepped the mark once again by upsetting members of the Greek Parliament. They had previously evoked the ire of Members of the Knesset and Israeli public in March with his speech riddled with Holocaust references.
I became aware of this when The Duran’s Alex Christoforou mentioned it at the start of their livestream today, Biden loves Russian oil, as follows.
Zelenskyy gave a speech in the Greek Parliament and he talked about 300 Thermopylae. He actually brought that up.
He talked about the Greek diaspora in Mariupol, in Odessa. But the big controversy, the big mess up from the Mitsotakis government is that during Zelenskyy’s presentation, his theatre show, because that’s what it really is, theatrics, he brought in two guys to speak that were fighting against the Russians. The problem with these guys is that they were part of the Azov and various party members, MPs in other parties, not from the New Democracy, they walked out. There was outrage. They're making statements to the press saying how dare you bring Nazis into the Greek parliament to speak. They are blasting the Mitsotakis government.
It is absolutely shameful to watch Nazis speak in the Greek Parliament. I mean this was a PR nightmare for Greece.
Anyone that's not familiar with Greek history, the Greeks suffered greatly in World War II, and we were occupied by the Nazis from 1941-44.
I believe Alexander could probably give some more insight there, some more context there. But anyway, that's all I have to say. It was a complete nightmare for the Greek Government.
For more information about why the “300 Thermopylae” aspect of Greek history is a sensitive topic to be used in the context that it was, here is an excerpt from The Battle of Thermopylae: 300 Spartans vs the World:
The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between the Greeks and the Persians in 480 BCE, has gone down in history as one of the most significant last stands of all time, despite the fact the “hero,” the Greeks, walked away from this battle defeated and on the brink of complete destruction.
However, when we dig a bit deeper into the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, we can see why it has become such a beloved tale from our ancient past. First, the Greeks, who have had a tremendous influence in the formation of world culture, fought this battle to protect their very existence. The Persians, who had grown over the previous century to be the most powerful empire in western Asia and the second largest empire in the world, set out to bring the Greeks under their control once and for all. To add to this, Xerxes, the Persian king, was out for revenge after the Greek army had defeated his father just 10 years prior. Lastly, the Greek army was grossly outnumbered. Xerxes prepared for his invasion by amassing one of the largest armies the ancient world had ever seen.
Greek City Times reported today on the appalling theatrics in Parliament as follows.
A member of the Mariupol-based neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, who claimed to be Greek and identified himself as Mikhail, caused controversy as he spoke in the Greek Parliament.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his video address in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras, the head of the opposition Movement for Change (KINAL) parliamentary group Michalis Katrinis and MeRA25 representative Giorgos Logiadis.
The parliamentary groups of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), MeRA25 and the right-wing Elliniki Lysi were absent.
Following the message from the Azov Battalion member, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said: “Including a message from an Azov Battalion member was wrong and inappropriate”.
The appearance of the neo-Nazi fighter prompted SYRIZA MP’s Nikos Filis, Thodoris Dritsas and Yiannis Giolas to walk out of the session.
“The speech by members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in the Greek Parliament is a challenge. They spoke of a history day, but it’s a historic shame. Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazi cannot have a say in parliament,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.
Leader of MeRA25, Yanis Varoufakis, said on Twitter: “Zelenski CHOSE to stand next to a neonazi during his video-talk to our Parliament. He must be condemned on two grounds: 1. Normalising Nazism 2. Supporting Putin’s claim that Ukrainian resistance = nazism.”
For the English translation of Zelenskyy’s speech in the Greek Parliament, watch the video clips in Derek Gatopoulos’ two tweets below.
The English transcript for Zelenskyy’s speech is on the Ukranian President’s website.
Please watch, listen to the English translation video of the first Azov Battalion member’s recorded speech for members of the Greek Parliament.
via Ekathimerini.com:
Main opposition reacts to Azov fighter presence in Zelenskyy teleconference
07.04.2022 • 14:06
Greece’s main opposition SYRIZA reacted on Thursday to the inclusion of a Ukrainian man who said he was fighting with the far-right Azov Battalion during an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Greek Parliament via teleconference.“Today we listened with respect and solidarity to the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Mr Zelensky, who resists the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to whom we express our support,” said Olga Gerovasili, SYRIZA’s parliamentary group secretary.
“Beyond that, however, it is unacceptable that today, together with President Zelenskyy, a member of the Azov Battalion also addressed the Greek Parliament,” she said, adding that her party has requested explanations from Parliament Speaker Kostas Tassoulas and whether he was aware of the fighter’s presence.
“Because I think that was a big mistake,” she added.
The fighter in question appeared after the first part of Zelenskyy’s address, who appealed to Athens for support, citing the two countries’ historic links. The man identified himself as Michael, an ethnic Greek fighting in Mariupol.
“My grandfather fought in World War II against the Nazis. He was injured three times. I was born in Mariupol and I take part in the defense of the city from the Russian Nazis. I will not talk about the difficulties we have in defense, participating in the Ukrainian defense through the Azov Battalion. This is my debt to my city, my debt as a man and I have to talk about the catastrophic conditions in which Greek Mariupol finds itself,” he told Parliament.
His speech was followed by a short testimonial from another Ukrainian-Greek who is fighting in Odessa.
This is the short clip of the second Nazi Azov Battalion member, the Ukranian-Greek man who was wearing a mask during his brief appearance, as is depicted on the upper left of the thumbnail for the video.
It has been quite challenging to find any reports about what happened today in Athens published by Western media.
Zelensky's speech with two Azov militants in front of the Greek Parliament caused a scandal
ATHENS, April 7 - RIA Novosti. The speech of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in front of the Greek Parliament, together with members of Azov (against the fighters of which a criminal case has been initiated in Russia) caused a political scandal, RIA Novosti correspondent reports.
The speech of the Ukrainian leader was ignored by the deputies of the Greek Communist Party of the KKE and the right-wing party "Greek Solution" ("Fox Hellenics"), refusing to attend the meeting at that time.
Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas said that "Greece was on the side of Kyiv from the first moment" and sent her military and humanitarian aid. At the same time, only parliamentarians from the ruling New Democracy party greeted Zelensky.
The President of Ukraine asked to provide maximum support to Kiev, then the deputies were shown a video with two militants from Mariupol.
"These are two Ukrainians of Greek origin, one of them is wearing a mask, he cannot show his face, I hope you understand," he said. Members of "Azov" during the appeal demanded from Greek politicians to increase assistance to Ukraine in the "fight against the Russian Nazis."
Zelensky's speech lasted about 15 minutes. It is noteworthy that the chairman of the SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance party and the leader of the official opposition, Alexis Tsipras, did not get up after it ended.
Tsipras party secretary Olga Gerovasili called the appearance of members of the Azov battalion in front of parliament unacceptable and completely inappropriate. Politicians will also demand an explanation from Speaker Tasoulas. However, according to her, the deputies "listened to the democratically elected President of Ukraine Zelensky with respect and solidarity."
The nationalist regiment "Azov" has repeatedly committed crimes against the civilian population and the Russian military in Ukraine. According to eyewitnesses, the militants expelled residents from hospitals, fired at queues for water and mined infrastructure. Nationalists also fire at residential buildings from large-caliber guns.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal "the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out "demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine", to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in Donbass.
I will leave off with this good video overview of the day’s events in Greece which actually includes reference to the article which had just shared last. The young fellow has a refreshing good sense of humour.
I must have missed the memo that it is now verboten to pronounce the letter “Z” in the EU such that Zelenskyy becomes “Elenskyy.” This crazy town has morphed way beyond the theatre of the absurd.
That’s all for the moment. I will be back with more research soon. Take good care.
Mind-boggling. Thanks for getting it "out there."