Luxembourg has become the latest country to recognise the Holodomor, a man-made famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s, as a genocide.
The Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg adopted a resolution on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, acknowledging the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.
The Holodomor, which means “death by hunger” in Ukrainian, was orchestrated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin as part of his campaign to collectivise agriculture, eliminate the Ukrainian intelligentsia and language, and crush any resistance to his rule.
The famine convulsed the Soviet republic of Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, peaking in the late spring of 1933. It was part of a broader Soviet famine that also caused mass starvation in the grain-growing regions of Soviet Russia and Kazakhstan.
The exact number of victims is still unknown and disputed, but estimates range from 3.5 to 5 million or more. The famine was not an accident but rather a deliberate act by Stalin’s regime against Ukraine.
“If we don’t make an effort now to improve the situation in Ukraine,” Stalin wrote to his colleague Lazar Kaganovich in August 1932, “we may lose Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian government has long made appeals to the international community to recognise the Holodomor as a genocide, a crime against humanity aimed at destroying Ukrainians as a political nation.
As of now, 29 countries aside from Ukraine, as well as the European Parliament, have recognised the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. The European Parliament also appealed to Russia as the main successor of the Soviet Union to officially issue an apology to Ukraine for the state-sponsored crimes inflicted by the Soviet regime upon Ukrainians.
Luxembourg’s recognition was welcomed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who said it honors millions of victims and restores historic justice.
“I commend Luxembourg’s Chamber of Deputies’ historic vote to recognise Stalin’s Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against Ukrainians. This step honors millions of victims and restores historic justice. The international acknowledgment of the Holodomor genocide continues to rise,” he wrote on Twitter.
The resolution adopted by Luxembourg also expressed solidarity with Ukraine in its struggle to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity amid Russia’s aggression and occupation of Crimea and parts of Donbas. It also reaffirmed Luxembourg’s support for Ukraine’s European integration and reforms.
Relevant articles:
– Luxembourg Parliament recognises Holodomor as genocide of Ukrainian people, Ukrayinska Pravda, June 13, 2023
– Holodomor | Facts, Definition, & Death Toll | Britannica, Britannica, May 16, 2023
– Worldwide Recognition of the Holodomor as Genocide, National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, June 12, 2023
– See which countries recognize Ukraine’s Holodomor famine as genocide on an interactive map, Euromaidan Press, November 24, 2022