Shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech in the House of Commons on Friday, Canadian MPs gave 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation as House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced him as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division during World War II: a division which fought alongside the war machine of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
Rota has already apologized for the incident and will meet party leaders in the House of Commons today, after two opposition parties called for his resignation on Monday, citing a lack of political trust.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly also called for Rota to resign.
“It’s totally unacceptable. It’s a shame for the House and for Canadians, and I think Rota should listen to the members of the House and step down,” explained Joly, who has already discussed this episode with the government Ukrainian.
However, Rota said today he was still considering his decision, after hearing successive calls for his resignation, promising a decision in the coming hours.
The First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the 14th Waffen SS Division, a volunteer unit under Nazi command.
Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies also called for Rota’s resignation, saying the invitation to a former member of the Waffen-SS “leaves a stain on the venerable Assembly of Canada.”
In his apology Sunday, Rota said he was solely responsible for inviting Hunka.
“It is good that Speaker Rota has personally apologized and I am sure he is currently reflecting on the dignity of the House,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The prime minister’s office said it was unaware Hunka had been invited to the House of Commons.
In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman said it was “scandalous” that Hunka received a standing ovation during a visit to Ottawa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses the Ukrainian regime of being neo-Nazi, although Zelensky is Jewish and lost family members in the Holocaust.
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