“Do everything possible to ensure that European Jews can live without fear”. Against a backdrop of rising anti-Semitic acts across Europe, the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for promoting the European way of life, Margarítis Schinás, reaffirmed this commitment in a press release on Monday 14 October. At the same time, the European Commission published its first monitoring report on the EU’s 2021–2030 strategy, which was adopted in November 2021 to combat antisemitism and foster Jewish life.
While the document notes that progress has been made – a total of 23 Member States have drawn up national plans with 14 of them specifically dedicated to combating antisemitism, and 25 countries have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism – it nevertheless deplores a worrying upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents.
This increase has been particularly marked since the Hamas attacks in October 2023. In France, for example, the number anti-Semitic acts have tripled, reaching a total of 1,676 incidents in 2023. In the Netherlands, incidents have increased eightfold, while in Austria they have quadrupled.
In December 2023, in light of this situation, the European Commission stepped up the implementation of the strategy by allocating €5 million to be sued for protecting Jewish places of worship and institutions. It has also launched a network of organisations to combat antisemitism online.
The report is being published on the eve of the adoption of a new EU Council Declaration on combating antisemitism to renew the commitments made by Member States (see other news).
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/dvq (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)