Brussels, 26/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the debate on Wednesday evening at the plenary session on racism and anti-Semitism and the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, disputes among MEPs are continuing (see EUROPE of yesterday, p.13). Two members of the Polish group Independence and Democracy (Ind/Dem), Maciej Giertych and Boguslaw Rogalski are encouraging their colleagues to reject the joint resolution on which a vote will be held on Thursday, accusing it of defending “revisionist” theories because it does not state that Auschwitz was a “German” camp. Two Italian MEPs, Nicola Zingaretti (PSE) and Lapo Pistelli (ALDE), on the other hand; are criticising the position of MEPs from the Lega Nord (members of the Ind/Dem group) who do not want to vote for the resolution. We are “tired of appearing to be the black sheep of Europe”, complained Mr Pistelli. Mr Zingaretti took advantage of the opportunity to make a demand to Minister of Justice Castelli (Lega Nord) to “put an end to the boycotting” over the last two years of the framework decision on fighting racism and anti-Semitism.
The Polish MEP Anna Zaborskà (PPE-DE) made a proposal, reaffirming in a communication: “Auschwitz is now part of the European Union. If we decided it, Auschwitz could become capital of the new Europe. Once again, the ideology of a “single headquarters” when it comes to places symbolic of the European Union does not make sense; Auschwitz and Strasbourg are definitively twinned in representing forever the caesura in the history of the continent”.