Monday September 25, 2023 – 5:50 p.m. WIB
Washington – The Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (DPR), Sunday September 25, 2023, apologized for praising a veteran who served in a Nazi unit during the Second World War during a parliamentary meeting. Two days earlier, the Speaker of the House, Anthony Rota, recognized Yaroslav Hunka (98) as a “Ukrainian hero” in front of the Canadian Parliament.
According to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group demanding an apology from the former Nazi, Hunka served during World War II as a member of the 14th Division of Waffen SS grenadiers. Rota said he took responsibility for what he considered negligence and called the initiative “entirely his own.”
“I realized later that the multiplication of information made me regret my decision,” he said, adding his “deepest apologies” to the Jewish community.
He made the recognition in the form of praise during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Canada and thanked Canada for its assistance in the war against Russia.
After Zelensky’s speech, Rota introduced Hunka, who was sitting on the balcony of Parliament, and praised him for his fight for Ukraine’s independence from Russia. Hunka received two standing ovations from Parliament.
“At a time when anti-Semitism and distortion of the Holocaust are on the rise, it is deeply disturbing to see the Canadian Parliament eulogizing someone who was a member of a Waffen-SS unit, the branch of the Nazi army responsible for the murder of Jews and others,” Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Sunday, demanding an apology.
“An explanation must be provided as to how this man entered the hallowed halls of the Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation,” the group continued.
Russian news agency RIA quoted Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov as saying the embassy would send a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a note to Canada’s Foreign Ministry on Monday.
“We will of course seek clarification from the Canadian government,” Stepanov said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in what it calls a “special military operation”, with the aim of what it calls the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine .
kyiv and its Western allies describe this aggression, which left thousands dead and millions displaced, as an unprovoked territorial takeover.
Washington said Moscow’s false justifications for the war were simply an attempt by the Kremlin to “manipulate international public opinion.”
Rota added that no one, including members of parliament or the Ukrainian delegation, was aware of his plans or statements.
“Professional communicator. General music practitioner. Passionate organizer. Evil twitter fan.”
