Maria Zakharova comments on the name of Peru's elected mayor

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores winning the mayoral election in Queropalca, Peru. She warned that public acceptance of such names could normalise them.

RIA Novosti carried her remarks, which Lenta.ru reported on October 9. Zakharova said the report about the politician's election had been checked and was not fabricated. She also said the man himself was probably not responsible for the name he had been given.

In her view, such cases can bring names associated with Nazism and fascism back into public consciousness as familiar or acceptable. That was the diplomat's assessment rather than a finding about the elected mayor's political beliefs.

Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores stood for Ahora Nación in the municipal election. The candidate said his parents gave him his real name at birth. Zakharova's comments concerned its symbolic meaning rather than the party's programme or any demonstrated conduct by the politician.