Anti-Semitism exists all over Europe but there are only a few governments, such as the Hungarian Government, that take resolute steps against it, State Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs Bence Rétvári from the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference on anti-Semitism and the monitoring of anti-Semitism, he said that after entering into office in 2010, the Government clearly declared that all manifestations of extremism must be curbed. The effective legislative measures introduced distinguish the current government from previous ones, he emphasised. The current administration also assists the survivors of Holocaust, the State Secretary added.

He emphasised that the Government had stated in Parliament that any form of anti-Semitic rhetoric is unwelcome and had taken the most decisive possible action against all manifestations of hate speech. In the new Penal Code, adopted in 2011, so-called “uniformed crime” is punishable subject to more stringent treatment, while the use of totalitarian symbols has also been banned, he added. Mr Rétvári also pointed out that an amendment has been passed in 2012, stating that MP immunity does not apply in cases of incitement against a community or denial of crimes of totalitarian regimes, he pointed out.

Prime Minister Orbán has also declared zero tolerance against anti-Semitism, and within the framework of this policy the Government has initiated the development of a monitoring system to provide a comprehensive professional analysis of anti-Semitic phenomena in Hungary.

The monitoring of anti-Semitic acts of hate is performed by the Brussels Institute of the Action and Protection Foundation (TEV), an independent non-governmental organisation founded in 2012, and is carried out according to methods developed and recommended by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The conference was organised by the Office for Protecting Fundamental Rights (OPFR) and supported by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice.

(Prime Minister’s Office, International Communications Office)