The lower house of the Dutch parliament – the House of Representatives – recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.
“We will never put up with the crimes of the Kremlin – whether in the past or in the present,” Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma, parliamentarian and one of the initiators of the approved document, said.
The Ukrainian World Congress thanks the Ukrainian community in the Netherlands and all friends of Ukraine for years of efforts in reporting the truth about this terrible crime of the Stalinist regime.
Ukraine’s president welcomed the decision. “Calling things by their proper name is the key to justice…to prevent these horrific crimes’ recurrence,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The head of state also thanked the Netherlands “for strong and multifaceted support” of Ukraine in its “fight for its future and that of all free world.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people is “an important step in establishing the historical truth.”
“I am grateful to the Netherlands for taking a firm stance on the need for accountability for past and present atrocities,” Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, wrote.
Earlier, the Slovak Parliament recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Slovenia also adopted decisions. In total, 28 countries have done this since November last year.
