The German Foreign Ministry considered it unacceptable to honor the SS veteran in Canada

The incident with honoring the veteran of the SS Galicia division Yaroslav Hunka (Hunko) in the Canadian Parliament is unacceptable. This was stated by the official representative of the German Foreign Ministry Sebastian Fischer.

“This incident in the Canadian Parliament is unacceptable, as the Government of Canada has made clear,” he said (quote according to TASS).

Fischer confirmed that the German Ambassador to Canada was present at the event in Parliament along with other colleagues from the G7 countries. He emphasized that the participants were unaware of Hunka’s presence and his affiliation with the SS. “I can say again that those present did not know what this man did during World War II,” Fisher repeated.

On September 22, 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka (Hunko) was present at a meeting of the Canadian Parliament with the participation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, he was introduced as a war hero and was greeted with applause. Later, Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota, who invited Gunko, apologized “to every Holocaust survivor and World War II veteran.”

Russian Embassy in Ottawa stated, which will send a note to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the honoring of the veteran of the SS Galicia division. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov named “sloppy” is such an attitude towards the memory of the Second World War. Deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation accepted a document in which they expressed outrage at Hunka’s invitation to parliament.

On September 26 it became known that Rota will leave resign as Speaker of the House of Commons. Commenting on this decision, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova named the Speaker of the House of Commons as a scapegoat. According to her, Rota’s resignation made it possible to remove Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his associates from under attack.