Brussels, 27/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Parliament unanimously adopted (bar the abstention of ten MEPs from the Front National, the Vlaams Blok and MEPs from EPP-ED, UEN, GUE and the Greens) a common resolution on the anniversary of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism. Tabling a last minute amendment noting that the concentration camps were set up by Nazi Germany, the President of the Socialist Group, Martin Schulz, ended the controversy that arose by Polish MEPs wanting Germany and the (National Socialists (Nazis) to be more explicitly condemned (see Europe of 26 January, p.13). The SPD MEP accepted the wording 'Nazi Germany' during a debate the day before, supported by the President of the EPP-ED group, Hans-Gert Pottering. The European Parliament rejected an amendment from the Union for a Europe of Nations (UEN) mentioning 'German National Socialists'. The adopted resolution pays tribute to the victims of the Nazis and affirms the need for education and information for young people, urging the Commission to monitor application of the 2000 Directive on racial equality.
By Wednesday evening, the controversy had been replaced to a moving, calm and historically frank debate, said the President of the Council, Nicolas Schmit, adding that Auschwitz had to remain a painfully present reality compelling current and future generations to better understand and reject any ideology of hate and exclusion and to put the 'never again' awareness into practice. He said that the duty to remember is not enough, and action is needed because anti-Semitism still exists, as does all types of racism, and confirmed the Luxembourg Presidency's plan to restart work on the framework decision on racism and xenophobia that has been in deadlock since 2001. Physical hatred often follows verbal hatred, he said, so work must go on. Franco Frattini said he hoped to start discussing the text again in the next few weeks. The proposal would facilitate mutual judicial aid and provide an effective legal framework for combatting all these phenomena, said the Justice, Security and Freedom Commissioner.
The MEPs also insisted on the duty to remember and most MEPs welcomed the contribution of the European project in terms of fighting anti-Semitism and promoting human dignity. German Christian Democrat Ewa Klamt said that the memory of these events can act as a warning to future generations. She condemned attacks that are still being made on minorities of whatever religion, and called for people to act in the spirit of the Founding Fathers who had brought people together to build a free, democratic and safer Europe, and people had to live up to this mission because Europe has to be able to develop in peace in the twenty-first century. Returning to the controversy at the EP, British Labour MRP Glyn Ford said that nobody is entirely innocent or entirely guilty, and wondered whether to avert a tragic repetition of history, a ban on Nazi symbols was required. Echoing him, Baroness Sarah Ludford (ALDE) called for lessons to be learned from this ideology to combat people who are anti-Semitic and racist in the 21st century. She suggested that 27 January become a day for remembering the Holocaust in all the Member States and highlighted the need for particular recognition of the genocide of the Roma. German Green, Gisela Kellenbach, said that educating young people and visiting places of memory should be a compulsory part of school and university curriculums. She also suggested thinking together about how to combat nationalist trends in the European Parliament, adding that when people voice racist ideas, they must not do it under the cover of parliamentary immunity.
On a different tack, Polish separatist Bogdan Pek (IND/DEM) said that 'our anger and indignation' should not surprise the EP, because Polish MEPs have a viewpoint that Western media find difficult to understand. He regretted that the resolution only talked about Nazis, pointing out that Hitler was voted into power. Polish EPP-ED MEP Boguslaw Sonik said Pek should be humble in the face of historical truth. Sonik said he appreciated Martin Schulz's statements that recognised, he said, that Germans have a particular role to ply in combatting discrimination. Sonik said that Polish MEPS and his own political group supported the common resolution, but called for a clear expression of the involvement of German Nazis to be included in the text. Martin Schulz replied to MEPs who believe he does not want the words 'Nazi' and 'German' in the text, that if these words could have a favourable impact for remembering victims, he suggested they be added.
After this stock-take, the MEPs stressed the need to plan concrete and coherent actions. Polish Socialist Jozef Pinior voiced his hopes that the EU would launch “a youth education programme” and stressed the importance of the EU's external policy to “guarantee peace and respect for human rights everywhere”. British Conservative Timothy Kirkhope warned: “we must not forget other genocides, such as Rwanda or Cambodia”. “Remember and do not forget”, French Socialist Pierre Schapira then said in Yiddish, before proposing that commemorative plaques should be put up in schools, bearing the name of deported pupils, and that 27 January be commemorated every year. This last initiative was warmly welcomed by Franco Frattini, who “very much favours the idea of a European day to remember the Holocaust”, and who spoke of the Commission's intentions of making the Vienna-based Observatory on Racism, Xenophobia and anti-Semitism into a European agency for the protection of fundamental rights (see EUROPE of 26 January, p.6).