News Feed, Holodomor

Slovakia recognizes Holodomor as genocide against Ukrainians

by The Kyiv Independent news desk June 20, 2023 8:52 PM 1 min read

A statue named “The Bitter Memory of Childhood” is seen as people pray, lay flowers and candles at Holodomor Genocide Museum on Nov. 26, 2022 in Kyiv. (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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Slovak parliament recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on June 20.

“Timely decision, significant contribution to restoring historical justice and honoring millions of innocent victims,” he wrote.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that “this act of historical justice serves as a stark reminder of our responsibility to ensure that abusers do not act with impunity.”

The Holodomor is a man-made famine that took place in 1932-1933 during Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union through forced collectivization and grain confiscation. Stalin's Holodomor killed an estimated 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian government has been calling on the international community to recognize it as a genocide.

Including Slovakia, 30 countries have acknowledged Holodomor a genocide against Ukrainians.

Croatian government supported recognition of Holodomor as genocide on June 15, Luxembourg did it on June 13. Belgium recognized the Holodomor as genocide on March 10, Iceland supported a resolution recognizing the Holodomor on March 23. The Czech Republic did so in April 2022, Germany, Romania, and Ireland in November 2022, and Bulgaria in February 2023.

In December 2022, the European Parliament also officially recognized the Holodomor as a genocide and urged Russia to issue an official apology for the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime.

Author: The Kyiv Independent news desk

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