The Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons apologised on Sunday for inviting and honouring, during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Ukrainian veteran who fought with the Nazis during World War II.
On Friday, Speaker of the House, Antony Rota, had Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, applauded as “a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran of the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians” and “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero.”
His remarks were denounced on Sunday by the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (FSWC), an association that defends the Jewish community in Canada, which demanded an apology.
"It is incredibly disturbing to see Canada's Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organisation during the Nuremberg Trials," the FSWC said.
“The fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking,” the association added.
Mr Rota apologised on Sunday, saying in a written statement that new information he became aware of on Friday, after the speech by the President of Ukraine to the Canadian Parliament, made him regret his initiative.
He explained that he alone was responsible for the initiative, that Mr Hunka was from his constituency, which was why attention was drawn to him, and that he took full responsibility for his actions.
“I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world,” he said.
