Austrian Parliament on Holodomor: "terrible crime"

This was reported by Ukrinform's own correspondent in Austria.

The document entitled "On the prevention of hunger and scarcity as a weapon of war against the civilian population" was adopted unanimously.

The proposal for a resolution mentions the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, which is labeled "a cruel famine that was deliberately and systematically provoked by the Soviet Union against the civilian population, mainly on the territory of Ukraine in 1932-1933 and which, according to various estimates, took the lives of from 3.5 to 7 million people." It was also noted that at that time "this terrible crime" was ignored by the world public, and one of the few Western figures who protested the Holodomor in the 1930s was the then Viennese Cardinal Theodor Innitzer.

The signatories from different parliamentary factrions declared their recognition of the "horrible crime of the Holodomor" and emphasized the importance of the contribution of such recognition to the analysis of the crimes of the 20th century as a central element in understanding the past." The resolution also notes the "use of hunger as a weapon in the current Russian war of aggression against Ukraine."

In the adopted resolution, the National Council suggests that the federal government, in particular the Federal Minister of European and International Affairs, "continue, within the framework of the proven Austrian way of dialogue, to advocate that hunger and scarcity are not used as weapons against the civilian population or as a means of pressure on governments, but also highlight the parallels between history and present and condemn the corresponding crimes."

Before that, there was a discussion among Austrian parliamentarians on whether to call the Holodomor of 1932-1933 a genocide. The liberal opposition party NEOS clearly supported the definition of "genocide". Also, spokeswoman for the "Greens" (part of the government coalition), Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, stated that "from a historical and political point of view" this was a crime against humanity, but also genocide.

Meanwhile, the right-wing populist and pro-Russian Austrian Freedom Party opposed the definition of "genocide". The other opposition Social Democratic Party of Austria also failed to support the definition of "genocide".

As for the Austrian People's Party, headed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, there was also no common decision to recognize the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people. At the same time, one of the deputies of the party, Martin Engelberg, in his address to parliament during the consideration of the resolution on the Holodomor, said that it makes sense to talk about its "historical and political qualification" as genocide.

As Ukrinform reported, on November 30, the German Bundestag recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

On December 15, the European Parliament adopted by a majority of votes a resolution on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine, which recognizes the terrible events of the 1930s as the genocide of the Ukrainian people.