Following the speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology on Wednesday for Parliament’s acknowledgment of a soldier who fought alongside the Nazis.
Trudeau claimed that the House of Commons speaker, who resigned on Tuesday, was “solely responsible” for the man’s invitation and honor, but he also claimed that it was an error that has caused both Parliament and Canada great embarrassment.
Before he entered the House of Commons, Trudeau remarked, “All of us who were in the House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped, even though we did so unaware of the context.”
“It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust, and it was deeply, deeply painful for Jewish people.”
In front of lawmakers, Trudeau apologized once more.
On Friday, right after Zelenskyy finished his speech in the House of Commons, Speaker Anthony Rota called attention to Yaroslav Hunka, 98, and the Canadian legislators gave him a standing ovation.
Rota described Hunka as a First Ukrainian Division combatant and a military hero.
Over the weekend, observers started to spread the word that the First Ukrainian Division, which served under Nazi leadership, was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division.
The fact that Russia and its allies are politicizing this egregious blunder to spread untrue information about the causes for which Ukraine is fighting, added Trudeau, “is extremely troubling.”
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
