On Thursday 25 April, European External Action Service spokeswoman Nabila Massrali promised that the EU was taking “very seriously” the allegations made against the Chairman of the EU Military Committee, Austrian General Robert Brieger, who has been criticised for commenting on a revisionist post.
According to Ms Massrali, EU High Representative Josep Borrell “has asked for further clarification” and is expected to respond “in due course” to the letter sent to him by Mr Brieger.
“All forms of Holocaust denial and distortion are totally unacceptable. Hate has no place in the EU”, warned the spokeswoman.
According to the Austrian daily Der Standard, in November 2023 General Brieger approved a Facebook post by a former police officer relaying conspiracy theories, including Holocaust denial, accompanied by photos of prisoner of war camps run by the Allies.
According to a screenshot published by Der Standard, Mr Brieger said in a comment under the photos that this was a ”concealed chapter in the history of the victors”.
In a statement published in the press, the general acknowledged this comment, but pointed out that it could be interpreted in different ways. He announced that he had since unsubscribed from the offending account.
“I was not aware that revisionist and anti-Semitic statements and comments were being shared on the Facebook page in question, which I categorically reject and from which I clearly and unequivocally distance myself”, he stressed. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)