Justin Trudeau
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized after the House of Commons speaker lauded a Nazi veteran in the chamber while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present.
Trudeau also stated that Ottawa has already apologized to Kyiv and Zelenskiy through diplomatic channels.
Last Friday, Anthony Rota, who publicly acknowledged veteran Yaroslav Hunka in the House and hailed him a hero, resigned as speaker on Tuesday and claimed sole responsibility for what occurred.
Hunka, 98, was a Polish-born Ukrainian who served in one of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS battalions during World War Two. He later moved to Canada.
Russia claims the incident backs up its assertion that the Ukrainian war aims to denazify the country, an accusation Kyiv and Western allies say is baseless.
“On behalf of all of us in this House, I would like to present unreserved apologies for what took place on Friday and to President Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian delegation for the position they were put in”, Justin Trudeau said to the House.
“For all of us who were present to have unknowingly recognized this individual was a terrible mistake and a violation of the memory of those who suffered grievously at the hands of the Nazi regime”, Trudeau continued.
Earlier in the day, the Kremlin stated the entire Canadian parliament should publicly condemn Nazism.
“It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicized by Russia and its supporters to provide false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for”, Trudeau remarked.
Hunka lives in Rota’s legislative district. Trudeau stated that the Liberal government was not responsible for verifying who the speaker invited.
The official opposition Conservatives blame Trudeau for what happened, claiming that he asked Zelenskiy to address the Canadian parliament, and accused him of incompetence.
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