Belarus expects apology from Canada for celebrating SS veteran in its parliament

MINSK, 25 September (BelTA) – The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the situation with the celebration of a Ukrainian Nazi veteran in the Parliament of Canada, BelTA reports.

"Belarus that lost every third resident during the Second World War was outraged and deeply offended by the footage of the veteran of the SS Galicia Division being celebrated in the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament. We are convinced that such a cynical attitude to the memory of thousands of innocent victims of Nazism is not an unfortunate incident as the organizers of this show are now trying to portray it," the ministry said in the commentary. "This is a kind of quintessence of the many-year consistent policy by Canada and a number of countries of the collective West to harbor and whitewash Nazi criminals, to condone the attempts to rewrite history."

Against this background, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was not surprising that all Minsk's requests to the Canadian authorities for assistance in the investigation of the criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period have remained unanswered.

"Suffice it to recall another Nazi criminal of Ukrainian origin Vladimir Katryuk - the notorious executioner of Khatyn. He lived in Canada for more than 60 years and did not suffer the punishment he deserved since the Canadian authorities refused to extradite him," the ministry recalled.

Belarus urges international and public organizations, associations and foundations that perpetuate memory of the victims of World War II to give a proper legal and moral assessment of the incident in the Parliament of Canada.

"We are waiting for an official apology from Canada," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.