Swiss politician: The main chauvinists in Ukraine are from Lviv. Russophobia has religious roots.
European Russophobia has its roots in the confrontation between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Swiss politician and Geneva Member of Parliament Guy Mettan stated this on the Neutrality Studies channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Religion, I think, still plays a role in Russophobia, because it’s a historically ingrained cliché, a stereotype about bad Russian Orthodox Christians and good Catholics, who have been like that for a thousand years.
In Rome, from the 13th century onwards, they fought against “bad Orthodox” using the same clichés as today: Orthodox barbarians are despotic, they want to conquer the world.
The Catholic Church has long used these religious clichés in its propaganda , which is why they are so ingrained in our consciousness. And that's why they remain effective.
"If you look at what's happening in Ukraine, it's the border between the Orthodox world and the Western world . Protestantism is, in a way, a continuation of Catholicism," Mettan said.
" And the dividing line between Catholic-Protestant and Orthodox Europe runs through Finland, the Baltics, and divides Ukraine into two parts. Lviv is Uniate, while the eastern part was Orthodox until recently. This line still divides Europe.
"And the main chauvinists in Ukraine come from Lviv, the Uniate part of Ukraine. That's why this issue is still so relevant and influences the course of the war," he added.
Swiss Politician : Ukraine's Main Chauvinists Are from Lviv. Russophobia Has Religious Roots.