The Rebirth of White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis Globally

"White supremacy extremism is a transnational challenge -- its tentacles reach from Canada to Australia, and the United States to Ukraine -- but it has evolved at a different pace in different parts of the world."
"To make serious progress, the United States should consider building upon Canada and the United Kingdom's leadership by sanctioning transnational WSE groups as foreign terrorist organizations."
"In Ukraine, the Azov Battalion has recruited foreign fighters motivated by white supremacy and neo-Nazi beliefs, including many from the West, to join its ranks and receive training, indoctrination, and instruction in irregular warfare."
Soufan Center, New York, report on White Supremacy Extremism: The Transnational Rise of The Violent White Supremacist Movement

A news broadcast by German ZDF station on September 8 showed soldiers of the Ukraine Azov Battalion in Mariupol with Nazi symbols on their helmets

“Canada has not, does not, and will not be providing support to Azov and affiliated entities."
"Canada is strongly opposed to the glorification of Nazism and all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance and extremism."
Dan Le Bouthillier, spokesman, Department of National Defence

The Soufan Center has warned of a growing trend for white supremacist groups to seek out opportunities for military training and experience in foreign conflicts, and it seems that the standing conflict in eastern Ukraine is particularly interesting for white supremacists. People have streamed into Ukraine to join the battalion of the regular Ukrainian Armed Forces from Brazil, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, France, America, Greece, Scandinavia,Spain, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic Croatia, Russia -- and Canada.

Azov Battalion Insignia

The international neo-Nazi network called Blood & Honor is mentioned in the report with respect to Canadian efforts to sideline its recruitment in Canada, adding it, identified as a right-wing extremist group, to the official list of terrorist organizations. Blood & Honour, founded in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s has its Canadian supporters. It and its armed branch Combat 18, which has been known to be responsible for bombings and murders around the world now both share space on Canada's list of terrorist organizations.

The Soufan Center's report represents a nudge to the U.S. government to designate white supremacist groups as international terrorists, hindering their members' ability to travel and fostering the capacity of the U.S. government to prosecute individuals who provide material support to such designated groups. White supremacist extremists in the United States have been connected to 40 murders there.

Former FBI agent Ali Soufan, involved in counterterrorism cases, the creator of the Soufan Center, warned that white nationalists have been travelling to Ukraine purposing to learn combat skills there, enlisting with the neo-Nazi-connected Azov Battalion, comprised of fighters mostly from eastern Ukraine, where the group distinguished themselves in fierce combat with the ethnic Russian-Ukrainian rebels backed by Russia in the Donbass region.

The recruits from the West have joined both sides of the conflict between Ukraine and the pro-Russian separatists, adding up to an estimated 17,000 foreigners hailing from 50 countries who have chosen to fight in that conflict. While the Azov Battalion was lauded by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and elevated to official status within the Ukrainian military, the battalion is known to have cultivated friendly relations with members of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi terrorist network based in the United States.

A U.S. army soldier in Kansas was arrested in late September for sharing bomb-making instructions online and discussing attacks on the news media, on left-leaning activists and on former U.S. Congressman Beto O'Rourke. According to the FBI, that soldier, Jarrett William Smith, had expressed interest in joining the Azov Battalion in Ukraine.

Canadian government and military officials in Ukraine met with members of the Azov Battalion last summer. The U.S. Congress, for its part had recognized the threat posed by the group in its neo-Nazi adherence by banning it from receiving American arms, reflecting its links to white supremacy. The Azon Battalion posted images on their social-media site of the Canadians posing with battalion members.

Russian neo-Nazis also are linked with white supremacists in nations of the West, while Russian groups such as the Russian Imperial Movement and its paramilitary unit have attracted and trained foreign fighters motivated by white supremacy and neo-Nazi beliefs, according to the report. Not to be outdone, within the geographic origins of the Nazi movement, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer warned of an estimated 24,000 far-right extremists in Germany, adding half to be considered potentially violent with "a very high affinity for firearms".

llustrative: A neo-Nazi demonstration in Leipzig, Germany. (CC BY-SA Herder3, Wikimedia Commons)