Canada mutes criticism of neo-Nazis in Ukraine as tensions rise
Questions raised as prospect of Russian invasion grows
The media is filled with speculation that a Russian invasion of the Ukraine is imminent.
While Canada has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine, expressions of concern over widespread far-right and neo-Nazi activity in our ally's towns is becoming louder.
Author and publisher Scott Taylor writes that on New Years Day this year hundreds of Ukrainians gathered to celebrate a controversial figure. “They were not celebrating the arrival of the New Year but rather they were commemorating the birthdate of Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Stepan Bandera,” he said.
“When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Bandera and his ultra-nationalist supporters were openly allied with Hitler’s legions. They were also willing participants in the early phases of the Holocaust, which involved the mass liquidation of Ukrainian Jews and Poles,” said Taylor.
Jewish organizations are speaking out, too. “We cannot allow political leaders to be pushing these politically charged agendas and distorting units that collaborated with the Nazis and individuals who collaborated with the Nazis,” B’nai Brith Canada’s president Michael Mostyn told the Hill Times. “It is time now to take a more aggressive approach when it comes to Holocaust distortion.”
In 2019 for the first time, Canada officially denounced these parades. But this year the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine remained silent rather than issue a similar denunciation regarding the glorification of a man who once participated in the wholesale extermination of human beings in the name of Hitler’s Final Solution.
Canada has 200 troops in the country on a training mission, and recently Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly visited Kiev promising financial aid, and did not rule out sending weapons, too.
Read “Canadian embassy's silence after Ukrainian event shameful” by Scott Taylor, published on Saltwire.com, January 17, 2022
(Cover: KIEV, UKRAINE - Jan. 01, 2018: Ukrainian nationalist activists mark the 109th birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera. Words on the poster - For the glory of heroes. Via Shutterstock)