Analysis: U.S. Cozies Up to Kiev Government Including Far Right

The U.S. and Europe have been emphatic in their support of the new Ukrainian government but a significant number of Washington's new bedfellows are members of what some experts class as extreme right-wing parties.

When Sen. John McCain traveled to Kiev in December, he told the crowd of 200,000 on Independence Square: "The free world is with you, America is with you, I am with you."

But among those stood next to the veteran Republican was Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the Svoboda Party. Some policy analysts have called Svoboda ultra-nationalist and even neo-Nazi.

Sen. John McCain waves to pro-European protesters during a mass rally at Independence Square in Kiev in December. Oleh Tyahnybok is seen to his right.

Svoboda, which means "Freedom," was given almost a quarter of the Cabinet positions in the interim government formed after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

The party's policies center around protecting the rights of what it calls ethnic Ukrainians, the preservation of the Ukrainian language and culture, and strict controls on immigration.

Although much of the more extreme content has now been removed from Svobodas leaflets, the European Parliament passed a resolution on Ukraine in 2012 that asked Kiev not to associate with the party on account of its racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic views.

One of the party's lawmakers was appointed to run the powerful defense ministry before being forced out. However, Svoboda still holds one of the vice prime minister posts as well as the ministries of agriculture and the environment. According to Foreign Policy magazine, this represents the largest far-right representation in any government in Europe.

The appointment of Svoboda co-founder Andriy Parubiy to position of secretary of the Security and National Defense Committee has raised eyebrows. Although now a member of the liberal-conservative Fatherland party, Parubiy led anti-Yanukovych street militias in Kiev in the wake of protests that erupted in December.

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Analysis: U.S. Cozies Up to Kiev Government Including Far Right