Canada disgraced for honouring Nazi criminals at parliament meeting

Honouring those who participated in Nazi activities during World War II is unacceptable, UN Secretary General representative Stephane Dujarric said commenting on the ovation that the Canadian Parliament gave to SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka.

"From what I've seen in the reports, the speaker… of the House in Ottawa apologized for inviting this individual, giving the reasons that he gave. We, of course, stand against any honoring of people who actively took part in Nazi activities during the Second World War," Dujarric said during a press briefing.

The scandal erupted following the incident from September 22, when 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka was one of the guests invited for a meeting at the Canadian Parliament in honour of Volodymyr Zelensky's visit. House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as "a fighter for Ukrainian independence against the Russians during the Second World War.”

Yaroslav Hunka turned out to be a former member of the Galicia volunteer division.

As soon as the scandal erupted, Anthony Rota stated that he did not know all the details of Hunka's biography. He expressed regret for his actions and apologised to his colleagues.

Volodymyr Zelensky also greeted Hunka during his speech at the Canadian Parliament. One of the photographs from the Ukrainian leader's speech shows him showing a fist as a greeting towards the crowd, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau standing next to him.

Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to apologise for inviting ex-SS Galicia division fighter to a parliamentary meeting.

Trudeau later expressed regret over the incident, but at the same time he made it clear that the incident would not in any way affect Ottawa's plans to support Kyiv.

Russia shames Canada

The Russian Embassy in Canada stated that inviting a Ukrainian Nazi to the parliament clearly demonstrated what kind of people the Trudeau government was praising.

Gennady Gatilov, Russia's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, believes that honouring a SS veteran is a shame for Canada, whereas hasty apologies from Canadian officials look ridiculous. Gatilov called the attempt to "glorify Nazi criminals” outrageous and said that he would continue to draw the attention of the world community to attempts to distort the history of World War II and desecrate the memory of its victims.

Russia's Ambassador to the UN in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said that the situation was a disgrace for Canada.

"This is a shameful day for Canada and its establishment (not necessarily for the entire Canadian population). They abandoned their role in the anti-Hitler coalition,” the diplomat said adding that nothing could justify such an act.

On December 6, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled that the symbols of the SS Galicia division were not related to Nazi symbolism.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova then said that the refusal of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to recognise the symbols of the SS Galicia division as Nazi was another step towards the revival of fascism.

The 14th SS Volunteer Infantry Division Galicia was recruited from Ukrainian volunteers and took an active part in battles against the Soviet army. In the summer of 1944, the division was completely destroyed by units of the First Ukrainian Front. SS Galicia fighters participated in a number of war crimes, including in crimes against civilians.