The Inter-ministerial Committee monitoring the implementation of the 2024-2027 National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Radicalization, and Hate Speech condemns the wave of antisemitic manifestations and incitement to hatred and violence in recent days against the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania - the Mosaic Cult, MP Silviu Vexler, with worrying effects for members of Jewish communities in Romania.
"We condemn any attempt to incite ethnic or religious hatred and violence, regardless of the reason. The scale of the attacks in recent days, especially online, is difficult to imagine in a democratic society in which fundamental human rights and freedoms are guaranteed, respected, protected and valued. Freedom of expression and democratic debate are essential values of the rule of law, but they cannot be invoked to justify or fuel hatred and violence. We call on all political forces, opinion leaders, the media and the general public to adopt a responsible discourse, and we recall that the maturity of a democracy is also reflected in society's capacity to assume its entire history, to celebrate achievements, to accept past mistakes and to learn from them, without relativising, instrumentalising or minimising them," according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Chancellery sent to AGERPRES.
According to the same source, the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and the historical responsibility of the Romanian state require a high standard of responsibility in public discourse and political action.
"Antisemitism, hatred and violence, regardless of the forms they take, are not an attribute of freedom of expression. Moreover, they do not target only members of Jewish communities, but all Romanian citizens, and represent a direct threat to the strength of Romanian democracy," the press release stresses.
In the same context, representatives of the Committee call on all state institutions and all political leaders to clearly and unequivocally distance themselves from such manifestations and to reject any form of extremism.
"The Government of Romania remains firmly committed to combating antisemitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech, including through education, culture, dialogue and the firm enforcement of legislation. Combating antisemitism is neither an ideological option nor a tool of political confrontation, but a moral, democratic and constitutional obligation of the Romanian state," the release further says.
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