Canadian PM Justin Trudeau formally apologizes for honouring Nazi veteran, admits 'terrible mistake'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised on September 27 after the House of Commons speaker praised a Nazi veteran while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present.

Trudeau said Ottawa had contacted Kyiv and Zelenskiy to apologise. Anthony Rota, who acknowledged veteran Yaroslav Hunka as a hero, resigned as speaker and accepted full responsibility. Hunka, a Polish-born Ukrainian who served in Hitler's Waffen SS unit during World War Two, later moved to Canada.

Russia claimed the incident supports its claim that the war in Ukraine aims to 'denazify' the country, a claim rejected by Kyiv and Western allies. 'On behalf of all of us in this House, I would like to present unreserved apologies for what took place on Friday and to President Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian delegation for the position they were put in,' Trudeau said.

He added that unknowingly recognising Hunka was a grave mistake and a violation of the memory of the Nazi regime's victims. The Kremlin said the entire Canadian parliament should publicly condemn Nazism.

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