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A Polish government minister has said he will seek possible extradition of Jaroslaw Hunka from Canada after the 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran was charged Fighting in a Nazi unit during World War II was applauded in the Canadian Parliament.
Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota Hunka’s invitation to the parliamentary session, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke last week, was met with backlash. Rota called Hunka “a Ukrainian hero” and “a Canadian hero” during the session, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.
But Jewish groups later said Hunka was part of a Nazi military unit. Rota apologized and resigned, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident “deeply embarrassing.”
“In light of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, where a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galicia formation was honored in the presence of President Zelensky, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition of this man to Poland,” said Polish Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said Tuesday.
Speaker of Canada’s House of Representatives resigns after honoring Nazi veteran
Polish Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski said the move was still a preliminary attempt to determine whether Hunka was responsible for crimes committed in Poland and served as a basis for his extradition.
He told Canada’s Global News that no extradition proceedings have been initiated, but that the minister has sent a request to the Polish Institute of National Remembrance – a government body that investigates Polish history, including crimes committed during World War II – about possible extradition to consider.
“I am sure this request will be considered,” said Dzielski. “And perhaps some steps will follow. But at this point these are the first steps of inviting the institute to get involved in the process.”
Canada’s justice minister and attorney general told reporters on Tuesday that he could not comment on the prospect of extradition and that he had not been contacted by the Polish government or received an official request.
Canada does not have an extradition treaty with Poland, which could complicate an application – as could other factors such as Hunka’s age, according to Canadian public broadcaster CBC.
Canadian House of Representatives Speaker Anthony Rota apologizes for honoring Nazi veteran
Jewish groups said Hunka was a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, a Waffen SS unit made up of ethnic Ukrainians. The Waffen SS was a Nazi paramilitary force founded by leading Holocaust organizer Heinrich Himmler, the Washington Post reported.
The Canadian speaker, who officially resigns on Wednesday, said it was his decision alone to invite Hunka to Zelensky’s speech. Who is Jewish and has relatives who were killed in the Holocaust.
Rota said Hunka lives in his legislative district and neither does neither his fellow MPs nor the Ukrainian delegation knew about the invitation.
The incident brought renewed attention to a time in Ukrainian history during World War II when nationalists allied with the Nazis to drive out the Soviets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has used Ukraine’s “denazification” as a pretext for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, a claim the State Department calls one of the Russian propaganda apparatus’s “most common disinformation narratives.”
Sammy Westfall and Amanda Coletta contributed to this report.