The State Duma condemned the Canadian Parliament for inviting an SS veteran to a meeting

The State Duma on Tuesday unanimously condemned the Canadian Parliament for inviting Yaroslav Hunka, who served during World War II in the 14th SS Grenadier Division “Galicia” to its meeting. Deputies publicly stated that this fact is “another step towards rewriting history” and recalled other Canadian misdeeds. Thus, Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya attributed the supply of methadone to Ukraine to them.

Draft resolution of the Duma on statement “In connection with the encouragement by the Canadian authorities of Ukronazism and neo-fascism” was initially not on the agenda; it was included there as an additional item at the beginning of the meeting on September 26. The occasion was an incident on September 22, when 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka was invited, among others, to a meeting of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada in honor of the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, whom House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced to the applause of the audience as “a fighter for Ukrainian independence against the Russians in the years Second World War”. He later apologized, saying that he did not know all the details of the guest’s biography (the person invited to the Canadian Parliament turned out to be a former member of the Galicia volunteer division). An apology was insisted first by a number of Jewish organizations, and then by Poland, whose ambassador to Canada, Witold Dzielski, noted that the SS Galicia division was responsible for the killings of Poles. September 25 scandal commented and the representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric, noting that honoring people who participated in the activities of the Nazis during the Second World War is unacceptable.

The State Duma also considered it impossible to stand aside and urgently prepared its own draft statement, in which it expressed “extreme indignation and indignation” at Yaroslav Hunka’s visit to the Canadian parliament.

The speaker’s apology clearly did not convince the Russian deputies. “The true sympathies of the Canadian authorities, directed from Washington and Brussels, are evidenced by the fact that the pro-fascist ceremony was broadcast without any hesitation in the Canadian media, and only a wave of criticism and protests around the world forced the organizers of this action to try to save face. The ridiculous excuses of the Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament and the Prime Minister of Canada citing a lack of information regarding Y. Hunka do not stand up to criticism,” the statement says. What happened is another step in the course of “rewriting history to suit the political situation,” Russian deputies believe.

Head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky (LDPR)speaking on the draft statement, said that never before since the Second World War had there been a situation where “a Nazi was invited to parliament and was greeted standing up.”

“The point is that today’s Canadian parliamentarians are the descendants of those who, even earlier, in the 1950s, gave refuge to many Nazis who committed heinous atrocities during the Second World War,” Mr. Slutsky said. “No country in the world was such a refuge for the Nazis as Canada,” he continued. The deputy noted that the statement “is the fruit of the work of the International Affairs Committee and representatives of all factions.” Mr. Slutsky also expressed hope that the Duma’s statement will be supported by the parliaments of countries around the world.

Vice Speaker Irina Yarovaya (“United Russia”) recalled that Russia has repeatedly initiated the adoption of a UN resolution on the inadmissibility of the rehabilitation of Nazism, and Ukraine, Canada and the United States voted against it. “I believe that the next step should be an appeal to the UN to consider this criminal fact,” Mrs. Yarovaya charged. Leonid Slutsky assured her that, as a member of the permanent Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly, he would raise the issue that this action “should be considered in court.”

Vladimir Kashin (CPRF) declared the need to develop the economy so that “Russia would rise to its full height,” and added that “everyone who is against us is evil, and they have no place on our planet.” Irina Yarovaya took the floor again, recalling the parliamentary investigation into the activities of American biological laboratories in Ukraine (she was the co-chair of the relevant commission). “Modern death machines, cynical, evil, sadistic, who commit crimes while full of drugs, they are also encouraged by those who applauded in Canada. Many pharmaceutical companies were created there. And, by the way, delivery (to Ukraine.— “Kommersant”) replacement drugs – methadone – were also provided by Canada,” Ms. Yarovaya said. It should be noted that in a number of countries methadone is used for drug substitution treatment.

As a result, 399 deputies voted for the draft statement, with no votes against or abstentions. The audience greeted the announcement of the voting results with applause. As it became known late Tuesday evening Moscow time, the Canadian speaker resigned.

Ksenia Veretennikova