The Ukrainian C14 group

7.11.2019

Question for written answer E-003694/2019/rev.1
to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Rule 138
Miroslav Radačovský (NI)

According to information that I have received, the С14 group is a paramilitary right-wing radical group that has close relations with the nationalist Ukrainian ‘Svoboda’ party. There is a reasonable suspicion that C14, founded in 2010, takes its name from the 14-word slogan of the American Nazi David Lane: ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’. However, the group spokesman explains the name as follows: ‘The name C14 comes from a transcription of Cyrillic and Latin scripts, but certainly not from a racist slogan’. October 14 is the date on which the organisation was founded and a public holiday, called the Defender of Ukraine Day. C14 is a civil society organisation that is officially and legally registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Yevhen Karas, also known as' Vortex', is a member of the C14 Group. According to current sources, C14 recruited members from among football fans of Dynamo Kyiv, Metalist Kharkiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, etc. However, C14 members have also been charged with hate crimes, including dissemination of racist material and attacks.

Question:

Given the increasing extremism, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia in the European Union, will the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy consider introducing travel bans and other related measures against the leader of the violent Ukrainian neo-Nazi militant group C14, Yevhen Karas and other radical Ukrainian nationalists implicated in murders, intimidation of ethnic minorities and other violent crimes?