Swiss Parliament Recognises Holodomor of 1930s as Genocide of Ukrainians

The Swiss Parliament has recognised the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as an act of genocide.

This was reported on Facebook by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.

In the statement adopted, the lower house of parliament, the Swiss National Council, recognises systematic actions aimed at mass and deliberate killing by starvation with the intention of destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as an act of genocide.

‘This is a truly historic decision. And it is an extremely important step towards restoring historical justice and preserving the memory of millions of innocent victims,’ Stefanchuk said.

The statement was approved by 123 votes, with 58 deputies against and 7 abstentions, according to the Swiss parliament's website.

According to the text, four million Ukrainians, about two million Kazakhs and hundreds of thousands of Russians died during the famine in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933.

‘The National Council recognises as an act of genocide clearly systematic actions leading to massive and deliberate starvation and committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such in whole or in part,’ the text says.

As of today, the Holodomor has been recognised as genocide of the Ukrainian people by the parliaments of about three dozen countries, as well as by the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.