OTTAWA, Sept 27 (Portal) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized on Wednesday after the House of Commons speaker praised a Nazi veteran in the chamber in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trudeau also said Ottawa had already reached out to Kyiv and Zelensky through diplomatic channels to apologize.
Anthony Rota, who publicly recognized veteran Jaroslaw Hunka in the House of Representatives last Friday and called him a hero, resigned as speaker of the chamber on Tuesday, saying he bore sole responsibility for what happened. Hunka, 98, was a Polish-born Ukrainian who served in one of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen-SS units during World War II. He later emigrated to Canada.
Russia says the incident supports its claim that the war in Ukraine is aimed at “denazifying” the country, a charge that Kiev and its Western allies say are unfounded.
“On behalf of all of us in this House, I want to apologize unreservedly for what happened on Friday and to President Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation for the position they were put in,” Trudeau told the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media outside his office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 25, 2023. Portal/Blair Gable/File Photo Acquire License Rights
“For all of us present, it was a terrible mistake and a violation of the memory of those who suffered greatly under the Nazi regime to have unknowingly recognized this person.”
The Kremlin said earlier in the day that the entire Canadian parliament should publicly condemn Nazism.
“It is extremely disturbing to believe that this egregious mistake is being politicized by Russia and its supporters to spread false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for,” Trudeau said in earlier remarks to reporters.
Hunka lives in the Rota parliamentary constituency. Trudeau said the Liberal government had no responsibility to verify who the speaker invited.
The official opposition Conservatives claim that Trudeau is ultimately responsible for what happened because he invited Zelensky to speak to the Canadian parliament and accused him of negligence.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Alison Williams and Paul Simao
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