Lavrov Says Some Analysts Believe Europe Is Building a 'Fourth Reich'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that, in his view, a number of political analysts believe Europe is engaged in efforts resembling the creation of a "Fourth Reich," according to remarks carried by Russian state news agency TASS.

Lavrov argued that European countries are erasing the historical memory of those who defeated Nazism during the Second World War, pointing to changes in school textbooks and the removal of wartime monuments in a number of European countries.

The comments were made amid ongoing tensions between Moscow and Western European governments over the war in Ukraine and broader disagreements about the continent's political direction.

TASS did not name the analysts Lavrov referenced, and the excerpt did not include specific examples of textbook changes or monument removals.

The statement is part of a series of pointed remarks Lavrov has made in recent public appearances criticizing European governments' policies toward Russia and their handling of historical narratives tied to the Second World War.