Minister of State for European Union Affairs and Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) Szabolcs Takács received the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Robert Berschinski in his office on Wednesday.
Mr. Berschinski was appointed to office in July, and his current visit to Hungary also included an introductory meeting, during which the American official put forward the United States’ standpoint with regard to IHRA activities and issues relating to Hungary’s Chairmanship of the organisation, with relation wo which he assured the Hungarian Chair of his continued support.
During the meeting, Mr. Takács presented the 2015 programme of the Hungarian IHRA Chairmanship, stressing that it focussed on combatting anti-Semitism, improving Holocaust-related education, remembrance of the Roma Holocaust and increasing public awareness of the organisation.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Berschinski expressed high regard for the activities of the Hungarian IHRA Chairmanship to date, including Hungarian achievements with regard to commemorating the Roma Holocaust and within the fields of Roma inclusion and integration, adding that similarly to international organisations, the US Government continues to track the current situation of the Roma people and local measures that affect them.
Minister of State Takács emphasised the Hungarian Government’s political and legal commitment to combatting anti-Semitism and confirmed that the Hungarian Government is observing a policy of zero tolerance with regard to all forms of racial hatred.
Topics of discussion during the meeting included the government-funded Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery renovation programme, the House of Fates Museum and the proposed Bálint Hóman statue.
Mr. Takács informed his American colleague about the status of the migration crisis and with regard to current and planned efforts on the part of the Hungarian Government to handle the situation.
(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)
