On Monday 27 January, the European Council paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, 80 years to the day after the liberation of the German Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where more than a million people perished, largely because they were Jewish.
In a declaration, the EU27 express alarm at the “unprecedented increase in antisemitism on our continent, not seen since the Second World War”. They strongly condemn “Holocaust denial and distortion, as well as conspiracy theories and prejudice against Jews”, and consider it “crucial” to fulfil the duty to remember the victims of Nazi crimes.
In line with the European Union’s founding values, the European Council promises to act to counter “all forms of discrimination, intolerance, racism and xenophobia”, while “respecting human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the Rule of law and human rights, including the freedoms of expression and religion or belief, and the rights of persons belonging to minorities”.
On Wednesday 29 January, the European Parliament will meet in plenary session in Brussels to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)