French Senate recognises Holodomor famine as Ukrainian genocide

The French Senate, upper house of parliament, has declared the Holodomor, a Soviet-era famine, as a Ukrainian genocide, the statement is issued on its website.

The decision was backed by 327 senators, 16 opposed the document.

“Making known the atrocities and sufferings suffered by the Ukrainian people is part of the fight, today as in the past, against forgetting, for the establishment of responsibilities and legitimate reparations and against the repetition of these tragedies,” the resolution reads.

The French parliament recognised in the resolution that the famine, deportations, and methodical extermination of the local population in Ukraine in the 1930s were man-made and aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity.

The lower house of the French parliament backed the document earlier.

A similar decision was made by the European Parliament in December 2022.

“MEPs strongly condemn these acts, which resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, and call on all countries and organisations that have not yet done so to follow suit and recognise it as genocide,” the website announcement reads.

In late November, Germany also declared the Holodomor as a genocide. The Bundestag resolution says that the famine represents “a crime against humanity”. Moreover, the parliaments of Iceland, Belgium, Romania, Moldova, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria adopted the same decisions in 2022.

“MEPs strongly condemn these acts, which resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, and call on all countries and organisations that have not yet done so to follow suit and recognise it as genocide,” the website announcement reads.

In late November, Germany also declared the Holodomor as a genocide. The Bundestag resolution says that the famine represents “a crime against humanity”. Moreover, the parliaments of Iceland, Belgium, Romania, Moldova, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria adopted the same decisions in 2022.