Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his “most sincere apologies” to Parliament on Wednesday for the tribute paid to a Ukrainian veteran who fought with the Nazis in World War II during the Ukrainian president’s visit to Canada.
“I would like to sincerely apologize for what happened on Friday and for the situation the president finds himself in [ucraniano, Volodymyr] Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation were posted”Trudeau declared in the Canadian parliament, responding to the scandal caused by the episode.
On Friday, delegates from all parties, Trudeau himself, his government and Volodymyr Zelensky, of the Jewish religion, stood to cheer Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran accused of fighting alongside the SS, unaware of the details of your past.
“It was a terrible mistake and a violation of the memory of those who suffered cruelly under the Nazi regime.”said the Canadian Prime Minister.
The statement comes a day after the resignation of the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Anthony Rota, the person responsible for the mistake that allowed Yaroslav Hunka to be welcomed into the Canadian parliament.
According to the association that defends Canada’s Jewish community, the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well documented .
It was the Ukrainian president’s first official visit to Canada since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: DN
