Canada House speaker apologizes for recognition of veteran who fought for Nazis

FILE PHOTO: Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Rota speaks after being re-elected as Speaker of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The speaker of Canada's House of Commons on Sunday apologized for praising an individual at a parliamentary meeting who served in a Nazi unit during World War Two.

Two days earlier, Speaker Anthony Rota had recognized 98-year old Yaroslav Hunka as a "Ukrainian hero" before the Canadian Parliament. Hunka served in World War II as a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group that demanded an apology.