23 out of 27 EU member states have so far developed a national strategy on combating antisemitism, the European Commission announced Monday as it presented the first progress report of the EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life announced in 2021.
Of the 23 member states, 14 have developed an alone-standing strategy and 9 havec included dedicated measures in broader strategies against racism, against extremism or to promote human rights.
Moreover, the report shows that 25 member states have adopted and/or endorsed the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism.
The 14 countries who adopted national strategies are :
Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Slovania.
The 9 countries are :
Czechia, Cyprus, Greece, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia.
In 2021, the European Commissio, under President Ursula von der Leyen, presened the first-ever EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. With antisemitism worryingly on the rise, in Europe and beyond, the Strategy sets out a series of measures articulated around three pillars: to prevent all forms of antisemitism; to protect and foster Jewish life; and to promote research, education and Holocaust remembrance. The Strategy proposes measures to step up cooperation with online companies to curb antisemitism online, better protect public spaces and places of worship, set up a European research hub on contemporary antisemitism and create a network of sites where the Holocaust happened.
The situation for Jews in the EU znd globally has dramatically worsened since the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7 2023 and the ensuing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, notes the Commission.
The Commission strongly condemned the attacks and expressed if full solidarity and support to Israel and its people and reaffiermed its full coimmitment to Israel’s security.
In her statement, one year after October 7, Commission President von der Leyen made it clear that there can be no justification for Hamas’axcts of terror.