Hungary is committed to combatting anti-Semitism, says state secretary

Brussels, March 10 (MTI) – Hungary is fully committed to combatting all forms of anti-Semitism and did its utmost during its chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) over the past year to advance research and education about the Holocaust, the state secretary for European affairs said at a ceremony marking the end of Hungary’s IHRA chairmanship in Brussels late on Wednesday.

Szabolcs Takács said the greatest achievement of Hungary’s chairmanship was an agreement between the IHRA and the European Union that the EU’s data protection law will not restrict access to documents related to the Holocaust.

Takács said future generations will have less and less knowledge about the Holocaust, which was why Hungary made it a priority in 2015 to ensure that “humanity’s saddest and worst” period is not forgotten and that all archival materials related to the genocide are fully accessible to the public.

The state secretary said the fact that the IHRA was able to enforce its interests in another international organisation is the alliance’s greatest achievement to date.

Takács called for zero tolerance against rising anti-Semitism in Europe and said that IHRA should aim to raise awareness about itself among young people. He said the organisation should examine and, if need be, improve its effectiveness to ensure that its principles on Holocaust education impact future generations.

Hungary formally passed the 12-month rotating chairmanship of the IHRA to Romania on Tuesday.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters