Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, today announced the appointment of Daniel Höltgen as the new Special Representative on Antisemitic and Anti-Muslim Hatred and Hate Crimes.
Referring to the Hanau attacks in October 2019 and February 2020, “which are not isolated events “, the Secretary-General denounced “an alarming rise in antisemitic and anti-Muslim attacks in many parts of Europe, often incited and aggravated by hate speech online”.
“Like Judaism, Islam is part of today’s Europe and the fight against hate crimes is a pan-European task”, she said.
Daniel Höltgen will take up his post on 1 November, while retaining the position of Director of Communication of the Council of Europe, which he has held since 2010. He will be responsible for liaising with his counterparts in the member states, federating initiatives at European level and ensuring that the Council of Europe’s collective expertise is fully exploited in order to develop new strategies to combat these phenomena. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)