Sep 27, 2023 at 8:40 PM Update: 2 minutes ago
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized on Wednesday after the former speaker of Canada’s House of Commons invited a 98-year-old Nazi veteran to parliament. That happened when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was there on Friday.
“This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada,” Trudeau told reporters. He said he will soon formally deliver parliament’s “unreserved apology” in the House of Commons for what happened.
On Tuesday, the former speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, resigned due to the situation. In honor of Zelensky’s visit, Rota invited Ukrainian-Canadian veteran Yaroslav Hunka.
Rota praised Hunka as a “Canadian hero”, after which parliament gave him a standing ovation. The incident sparked outrage from Jewish organizations, the Polish government, World War II veterans and members of the Canadian Cabinet, among others, who called on Rota to step down.
The incident is painful because it fits into Russian claims that the country is fighting Nazis in Ukraine. The Kremlin insists that “denazification” is one of the goals of the invasion.
Zelensky himself is Jewish and has lost family members to the Holocaust. Trudeau indicated that he was very sorry for putting Zelensky in this situation. Apologies to Ukraine have already been made through diplomatic channels, the Canadian Prime Minister said.
Sep 26, 2023 at 9:11 pm
Chairman of the Canadian House of Commons resigns after inviting ‘hero’ who turns out to be an SS member
Image: AFP
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2023-09-27 18:40:20
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