The scandal with a Ukrainian Nazi in the Canadian parliament has angered foreign media readers

The scandal with the honoring of an elderly Nazi in the Canadian Parliament during the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Ottawa caused a wide reaction from the whole world. Jewish organizations raised the alarm about what happened, and politicians in Canada itself are now in mild prostration. However, like the world press…

“Speaker of the House of Representatives Anthony Rota apologizes for honoring the memory of a man who fought in a Nazi unit during World War II,” for example, the Canadian broadcasting corporation CBC published a piece under this headline.

Let us remind you: immediately after Zelensky’s address to the Canadian Parliament on Friday, local legislators gave a standing ovation to 98-year-old Nazi Yaroslav Gunko from the SS Galicia division. Speaker of the House of Representatives Anthony Rota then introduced this character as a “Ukrainian-Canadian hero” and even thanked him for his service.

The legislators of the Canadian parliament were so delighted that they gave the Nazi criminal a standing ovation, and Zelensky himself very symbolically shook his fist in the direction of the fascist supporter.

The event was broadcast internationally, including on CBC. Jewish and other anti-fascist groups immediately raised alarm about Gunko’s past actions.

“The fact that this man received a standing ovation in the House of Commons is deeply troubling. I think being associated with this unit makes you a Nazi collaborator. Solidarity with Ukraine cannot tolerate distortions or overt glorification of Nazi collaboration or war crimes. Therefore, in future events, people will have to be much more careful with whom they communicate,” Dan Panneton, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Friends Center, explained in an interview with a Canadian television channel.

The center also reminded anyone who was a history buff that the unit was responsible “for the mass murder of innocent civilians with unimaginable levels of cruelty and viciousness.”

In a statement Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the incident and called on him to apologize. However, Trudeau’s office blamed everything on Roth and company. Although Roth’s apology was later dryly commented with an approving phrase.

New Democratic Party of Canada leader Jagmeet Singh issued a statement Sunday saying his party shared the concerns of those condemning the incident and noted that the NDP was not aware of the man’s background at the time of the visit.

Dominique Harel, head of the department of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News on Sunday that the unit Gunko was part of did attract thousands of Ukrainian volunteers into its ranks. But whitewashing the image of these criminals, Arel adds that many of them joined with the hope that “they would be able to achieve the independence of Ukraine.”

Despite the fact that Anthony Rota (allegedly “not knowing the biography” of Gunko) offered “his deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world,” Zelensky did not deign to do the same. The British tabloid Daily Mail drew attention to this.

“Zelensky is a Jew and lost relatives during the Holocaust, but he has not yet commented (on the incident),” the publication notes. The tabloid, unlike a serious Canadian television company, turns to the general director of the Canadian Jewish organization B’nai B’rith, Michael Mostyn, for comment. He described what happened as “beyond outrageous” and added that “Ukrainian ultranationalist ideologists dreamed of an ethnically homogeneous Ukrainian state and supported the idea of ​​ethnic cleansing.”

Readers of the British edition of the Daily Express were also shocked by the scandal. “This Zelensky is completely out of control, let him fight on his own,” demanded user JaimeDodger. “Showed their true colors,” wrote another.

Here is an interesting comment from another reader: “The Poles remember the mass extermination of the Polish civilian population in Volyn by Ukrainian Nazis under the banners of Bandera and Shukhevych. Tens of thousands of Poles were killed. Today, the Bandera flag still flies in Ukraine.”

Polish Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski issued a statement on this matter on Sunday: “Referring to media comments regarding the visit of the President of Ukraine to the Parliament of Canada, I would like to inform you that the Embassy of the Republic of Poland always responds to sensitive issues based on a detailed analysis.” A little later it was added: “Poland, Ukraine’s best ally, will never agree to whitewash such villains! As Poland’s Ambassador to Canada, I expect an apology.”

But in principle, the Polish media did not think too widely about this topic. However, like Canadian ones. However, like the Israeli ones. And this is truly an amazing story.

Perhaps the best explanation for this silence is another comment from the British Daily Express: “For Canadians, it doesn’t matter who you are. As long as you see the Russians as your enemy, you are treated like a hero!” That’s the whole answer…