Polish Deputy FM: Canadian Lower House Speaker Must Resign After Honoring Former Nazi

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Anthony Rota must resign after a scandal over a parliamentary tribute to former Nazi soldier Yaroslav Hunka, as the glorification of war criminals is unacceptable, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk said on Tuesday.

"This is a great embarrassment for the House of Commons speaker, lack of understanding, lack of historical knowledge. And I believe that in the face of such a great embarrassment there should be a resignation from the post of the speaker of the House," Mularczyk said in an interview with the PAP news agency.

He also said that soldiers of the Waffen-SS, like Hunka, were part of the most criminal German units, as they had committed massive war crimes, primarily against Poles and Jews.

"Today, the lack of unequivocal condemnation of these individuals and the simultaneous glorification of them is a disgrace," he added.

Last week, Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran who fought in the ranks of the Nazi SS's 14th Waffen Grenadier Division during World War II, received a standing ovation from the entire Canadian legislature. Hunka's recognition came as Rota delivered introductory remarks prior to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's address to the Canadian parliament.

On Sunday, Rota apologized for his decision to invite Hunka. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office said that neither the Canadian prime minister nor Zelenskyy's delegation had been notified in advance of Hunka's invitation.