“We must continue the fight against all forms of anti-Semitism, and it is our duty to do everything possible to ensure that everyone is free to practice their religion and embrace their ethnic identity”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, István Mikola said at an Action and Protection Foundation (Tett és Védelem, TEV) conference in Budapest on Wednesday.
Speaking at the conference entitled ‘Are European Jews safe? Challenges in light of the European migration crisis and the terrorist threat posed by fundamentalist Islam’, Mr. Mikola stressed that Hungary has remained a safe place throughout the migration crisis and is also a safe home to the Jewish community.
Deputy State Secretary for Priority Social Affairs Csaba Latorcai from the Prime Minister’s Office stressed: “Today Europe is rich, but weak, on top of which it is incapable of recognising its weakness and taking appropriate action against it”. “Instead of strengthening their identity while relying on Christian-Jewish values, many Western European countries are preparing to throw away all of the values that gave them the strength to resist external threats for hundreds of years”, he said.
“Parallel to this phenomenon, anti-Semitism is on the rise, and the situation is particularly bad in the United States and major Western European cities”, he highlighted.
“In addition to the increasing level of anti-Semitism, the regularity of terrorist attacks is also worrying; acts of terrorism have claimed the lives of more than 415 people during the last year or so”, Mr. Latorcai added.
“The deterrent examples that we are seeing almost every day should motivate all European decision-makers to act responsibly and do everything possible to prevent such acts”, the Deputy State Secretary pointed out.
“It is while undertaking this responsibility that the Government had constructed a fence along the southern border and decided on introducing the legal border barrier to prevent illegal immigrants of uncertain identity from entering the territory of the European union”, he explained.
At the conference, which was organised to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Action and Protection Foundation, Executive Rabbi of the Unified Israelite Congregation of Hungary (EMIH) Slomó Köves spoke about the fact that the Foundation was called into being by the realisation that the Jewish Community cannot rely on the protection of others, but must stand up for itself.
“However, the founders also took into account the fact that although they must primarily take responsibility for themselves, following the first steps they will also be able to search for cooperative support, and if they do search for it, they will find it”, he said.
“They also knew that their activities cannot stop at protesting or offended demonstration”, the Rabbi added.
With relation to the achievements of the TEV during its five years of existence, he said they had introduced the regular monthly monitoring of anti-Semitic acts of hate in Hungary, as well as the annual representative survey on anti-Semitic social attitudes.
The TEV has set up “a very strong legal team that has seen through 87 legal procedures in Hungary, and in the United States with relation to Hungary, during the past 5 years”, the Executive Rabbi said.
“The Foundation has initiated four legislative amendments that are vital to stopping anti-Semitism, and have developed cooperation with the court, the Minister of interior and law enforcement bodies. In addition, they have initiated and launched education and training programmes within the law enforcement courses offered by the National University of Public Service, have developed teaching materials for the continued training of police officers and for the training of judges and prosecutors, and have also launched an education programme in schools”, Rabbi Köves explained, listing the Foundation’s achievements.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism, Rabbi Andrew Baker spoke about the fact that he is highly appreciative of the Hungarian Government’s declaration of a policy of zero tolerance with relation to anti-Semitism, particularly if the words were also followed by action.
He said the fact that more and more countries believe it is important to commemorate the Holocaust was encouraging.
“This is a long process, and countries in which the decades of communism delayed facing up to the past are in a particularly difficult position”, he added.
“Hungary has done a lot to reduce anti-Semitism and ensure worthy commemoration, but has not achieved total success as yet, because there are many contradictory statements appearing in public dialogue and there is still a lot of uncertainty within the Jewish community”, Mr. Baker highlighted.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
