According to Russian media, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov recently stated that because Germany and Japan voted against the United Nations resolution that condemned Nazism, Russia believes that these two countries should not obtain permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
To put it simply, Russia is threatening Japan and Germany and using its veto power to prevent Japan and Germany from obtaining permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
In fact, even without Russia's veto, it is now very difficult for Japan and Germany to obtain permanent members of the Security Council.
German and Japanese leaders
Although Japan, Germany, Brazil, and India have established a "Squad for Application for Permanent Membership" and have been working in this direction, because the world's major powers, now the "P5" of the United Nations, have differences on the reform plan of the Security Council, it has been impossible to determine who should be elected to the Security Council and become the new permanent member.
Among them, India's support rate is higher. It is difficult for Japan and Germany to obtain the unanimous approval of the UN member states. Whether or not Russia vetoes it will have little impact on Japan and Germany's current plan to join the permanent membership.
Of course, at this time, the Russian ambassador to Canada threatened to prevent Japan and Germany from joining the permanent membership in the name of opposing and condemning Nazism. The significance of the diplomatic statement far outweighs its actual effect.
The Five Permanent Members of the Security Council
To put it bluntly, Russia does not really want to prevent Japan and Germany from becoming permanent members of the Security Council, but to express Russia's attitude and dissatisfaction with Japan and Germany.
The root of the matter is that Russia proposed a resolution condemning Nazism at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this month. However, during this vote, Japan and Germany, which had always voted in support, voted against it.
In recent years, Russia has proposed this resolution at the UN General Assembly every year, and it has been passed every year. After all, the United Nations was established on the basis of the victory in the anti-Nazi war, and it is naturally impossible to oppose relevant resolutions condemning the Nazis.
United Nations General Assembly
As for the resolution itself, the opposition of nearly 200 member states of the United Nations, Japan and Germany will not affect the adoption of the resolution. For example, this year it was passed with an overwhelming result of 120:50.
However, due to the Russo-Ukrainian war, some Western countries formed a group to oppose the resolution proposed by Russia to condemn Nazism. It was obvious that they were opposed for the sake of opposition and violated Russia's interests. Among them, the opposition from Japan and Germany was the worst. Naturally, Russia would take retaliatory measures.
On the one hand, why is Russia so obsessed with condemning Nazism? The root cause is that the eastward expansion of NATO broke the international relations pattern established after World War II, that is, the Yalta system. As one of the countries that contributed the most during World War II, Russia's original benefit compensation was gradually eroded by the United States and the European Union.
Putin and World War II veterans review the Russian army
Russia is dissatisfied with this, so it proposes resolutions every year to oppose the glorification of Nazism. In fact, it reminds the world not to forget that World War was able to win because Russia (the Soviet Union) made huge sacrifices and efforts. To a certain extent, this is a means for Russia to defend its international status.
On the other hand, Russia proposes resolutions condemning Nazism every year to emphasize its status and protect the international order system with the United Nations as its core.
In the past, as defeated countries, Japan and Germany could only support the draft resolution proposed by Russia every year in order to avoid suspicion. However, this year, Japan and Germany simultaneously opposed this proposal, which seems to be just part of the diplomatic struggle between the United States, Western countries and Russia.
Abe flew on a self-defense force plane with "731" written on it
But Japan and Germany are different from other countries. They themselves were defeated countries in World War II. It was Japan, Germany, and Italy that invaded the world with Nazism at that time. Other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, are still victors in World War II. Now because of the Russo-Ukrainian war, in order to oppose Russia, they deliberately voted against the resolution condemning Nazism. It is understandable.
Japan and Germany themselves were former aggressors and the origins of Nazism. Now they are opposed to condemning Nazism. This is not only a matter of harming Russia's interests, but also an offense to other victors in World War II and a challenge to the existing international order .
In this sense, it makes sense for Russia to threaten to prevent Japan and Germany from entering the United Nations Security Council and becoming permanent members.
United Nations Headquarters
What’s more, the United Nations itself was established on the basis of the victory in World War II. The original intention of establishing the United Nations was to prevent major powers from fighting on their own and causing the world to fall into the danger of a divided and mutually hostile national war like during World War II.
The best strategy to avoid all of this is to combat the forces of far-right populism and avoid the resurgence of Nazism. Now Japan and Germany, the two birthplaces of World War II, have openly opposed resolutions condemning Nazism. Although the purpose is to oppose Russia, it will actually increase the arrogance of Nazism around the world. This is not only a challenge to Russia, but also a hidden worry for all mankind.
Once this situation spreads, the final result will inevitably be that the United Nations will disintegrate, the world will return to the state before World War II, and the risk of major power war will increase infinitely.
Putin
To sum up, Japan and Germany regarded the issue of condemning Nazism as a general political issue to compete with Russia. This trend must be curbed. Russia did nothing wrong this time.
