MEP Gyöngyösi: What constitutes a crime in the West is part of the system in Russia

That’s why I’m so surprised to see self-proclaimed conservatives trying to justify the Russian army’s brutal war crimes by suggesting that the United States has also started unjust wars before.

Well, let’s look at the differences, then!

However, the reason why we know about these crimes is the information coming from the US itself, because they have independent media, jurisdiction, political opposition and civil society.

As a result, every unjustified war and every war crime has always had its consequences in America.

During the Korean war, the war hero general who became a “loose cannon” was dismissed because he failed to follow orders. During the Vietnam war, the political leadership was forced to stop the war and take the political responsibility as a result of the public protests. During the Iraq war, the American soldiers who committed atrocities were sentenced to prison. America still conducts a free and intense public debate about these events to this day. Dozens of books and films discuss these issues to serve as a warning: the law applies to everyone, politicians and soldiers alike. And if you commit a war crime, you will be held to account. Justice will be served to the victims by the American public and the American laws.

Let’s look at what happened in Russia at the same time!

Although Russia was just as busy waging wars (in Afghanistan, Chechnya and several other post-Soviet countries, remember?), we can hardly hear of them, because Russia has no independent media, independent jurisdiction, political opposition or empowered citizens.

No one was ever held responsible for any war or war crime in Russia. 

In fact, Moscow still denies, despite the overwhelming evidence, that thousands of Polish officers were massacred in Katyń. In Russia, it is forbidden by law to talk about the barbaric acts of the Red Army as its soldiers marched across Central Europe, murdering, pillaging and raping their way through in World War II. On the contrary: all Russians are obliged to glorify their actions. When it comes to the current war in Ukraine, the mass atrocities committed by Russia are not reported by the Russian media. The only reason we know about them is because we have the accounts of escaped or captured soldiers and information from wiretapped conversations. That’s the only reason why the western world is aware that Russia deploys hardened criminals to the front with orders to destroy everyone and everything in their way. Meanwhile, Russia refuses to even admit there’s a war going on. Criminals are celebrated as heroes, their brutality is presented as an example.

America is not innocent, but it learns from its mistakes and holds its citizens to account if they overstep the bounds of the law. In Russia, brutality is not an overstep, it’s been a part of the system for centuries.

In America, it’s shameful to wage an unjustified war, it’s shameful to commit war crimes. Perpetrators are despised by the public and punished by law.

In Russia, raping women, shooting children in the head, looting and pillaging on orders is the pinnacle of patriotism, presented by Russian leaders as an example for the society.

That’s the difference between the two systems, and that’s why all morally sound conservatives must stand by the West today.

If you don’t believe me, ask your grandparents. Who were they waiting for in 1944-45? The Russians or the Americans?

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.