Russia's 9th May Holiday

How is Moscow using this date to destabilise, provoke and propagandise war in Europe?

Every year on 9th May, the Russian Federation celebrates victory over Nazi Germany. Despite the fact that the end of World War II and the victory is a joint achievement of many countries, Moscow tries to attribute a major role in the victory over Nazism to itself, and every year it organises "victory rallies" not only in Russian cities but also pays for them in many European countries. Moscow has deliberately created a militaristic aggressive celebration around 9th May for its own citizens in order to rally them against the common "enemy", which for them is now supposedly the entire West.

In order to promote the values of the "Russian world", Moscow uses the huge human resource of Russian migrants living in different countries. "Russian world" is a term used to unite Russian-speaking populations around the globe. The term has no definite interpretation, allowing Vladimir Putin's regime to imply whatever meaning is beneficial in any given situation.

Almost annually, Vladimir Putin declares from the rostrum of the Kremlin that Russia is in danger, that it is under attack, and that it is necessary to unite and fight against Russia's "enemies". In this way, the propaganda of the Russian authorities nurtures generations filled with hatred of other countries, particularly Europe and the US. It should be noted that Russians are among the top 10 nationalities living in the European Union. Most migrants settle in Germany, and their main motive for leaving Russia is to work and start a family, i.e. they move permanently. An important point is that Russian migrants who acquire citizenship in one of the EU countries most often try to keep their "native" passport of the Russian Federation, which is used by the Russian authorities to promote their own propaganda with them.

Most of these migrants do not naturalise, do not adopt the rules and customs of the "new" country and in most cases do not learn the language, but continue to support Moscow's policies anyway. On the eve of the 9th May celebrations in Russia, in many cities of the European Union, exactly such fans of Vladimir Putin took to the streets, waving Soviet and Russian flags, behaving aggressively with the locals, and provoking riots. Such actions destabilise EU countries, promote war, and threaten Europeans with a repeat of the Ukrainian scenario.

In order to discourage Russian propaganda, European countries should respond accordingly to such provocations by representatives of the aggressor country in order to prevent contamination from the "Russian world".