Hungary officially assumed the chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on Monday. The Hungarian chairmanship will endeavour to put combating antisemitism, and education about the Holocaust and the genocide of the Roma at the centre of its programme. The handover ceremony took place in Berlin, the seat of the organisation’s High Secretariat.
Szabolcs Ferenc Tamás, the commissioner appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office to coordinate the worlk of the Hungarian presidency, said at the ceremony held in the Hungarian embassy’s building that the chairmanship is a great honour for the country. “This year began with shocking events in Paris and lately in Denmark by fanatics who, with stunningly bold violence, demonstrated their intolerance of the views of others. Sadly enough all these phenomena of harsh violence and extremism are coupled with old and new forms of antisemitism. Education is the main, almost the only tool to effectively counter this. This is why the role of IHRA is even bigger than we may think: through Holocaust education and remembrance, a tolerant society should and could be built. That is the stake of our common work, to which I, as the Hungarian Chair of IHRA ask for your support, trust and cooperation”, he said.
Outgoing chairman Sir Andrew Burns, who headed the British presidency, emphasised that Albania, Moldova and El Salvador had become observer countries of IHRA over the previous year and the organisation has strengthened ties with the Vatican.
via mandiner.hu and holocaustremembrance.com
photo: hir.ma