The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has resigned after unknowingly praising a former soldier who fought for a Nazi unit and inviting him to Parliament to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky give a speech. According to the Associated Press, the incident took place on Friday when the man, Yaroslav Hunka, 98, received a standing ovation from Parliament members after Speaker Anthony Rota referred to him as a “hero.” Reports later came out that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a voluntary Nazi-controlled military unit that mostly contained ethnic Ukrainians. This sparked backlash and put pressure on the speaker to step down. He initially held out but decided to leave office on Tuesday, saying, “I must step down as your Speaker. I reiterate my profound regret for my error.” On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the event was “extremely upsetting” and “deeply embarrassing” while on Tuesday, Poland’s Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek announced he had begun the process of extraditing Hunka.
