Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons apologizes after praising war veteran from Ukraine

The speaker for Canada’s House of Commons expressed remorse for commemorating a Ukrainian soldier associated with a Nazi-affiliated faction during World War II.

Speaker Anthony Rota praised 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka during a speech on Friday. Hunka was recognized as both a Ukrainian and Canadian veteran during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the Canadian parliament.

The person speaking praised Hunka as a brave soldier who fought in the First Ukrainian Division. They said Hunka fought to protect Ukraine from the Russian attackers in the past, and still supports the military today.

“I recently found out more information that makes me feel sorry for my choice,” stated Rota in a message his office released on Sunday. He said, “I am very sorry to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. ”

Many groups that support human rights and the Jewish community have criticized the acknowledgement, stating that Hunka was a part of a Nazi military group called the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.

According to a statement from Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada, Hunka, who moved to Canada after being in the 14th Waffen SS, a Nazi group that supported Adolf Hitler during World War II, got a big round of applause from the members of Parliament and senators who were there.

The CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, Michael Mostyn, said in a statement that the parliament’s acknowledgement of Hunka is “extremely shocking. ”

We must not let history be distorted. Canadian soldiers fought and lost their lives in the battle to liberate the world from the cruel and oppressive actions of the Nazis,” Mostyn mentioned.

The 14th Waffen Grenadier Division was a group that was part of the Nazi SS organization. The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg declared this organization a criminal group because they had done bad things during war, like committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

B’nai Brith criticized the Ukrainian volunteers who joined the military unit for being extreme nationalists who wanted Ukraine to have only one ethnic group and supported the idea of removing other ethnic groups.

The human rights group wants parliament to say sorry.

Rota said he is fully responsible for recognizing Hunka, who he said comes from his voting area.

“I want to emphasize that before I spoke, nobody, not even my fellow parliamentarians or the Ukraine delegation, knew about my intention or the things I was going to say,” Rota explained. “I took this initiative by myself because someone from my area caught my attention. ”