Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said members of the Jewish community can live safely in Hungary today, as the government has made it clear that it has zero tolerance for all forms of anti-Semitism.
Deputy PM Semjén was speaking at the Great Synagogue in Dohany utca, at a commemoration organized on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest ghetto.
Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe for Jewish people. Those who walk the streets wearing a kippah need not fear, they can practice their religion safely, and those who visit Budapest can gain insight into the unique everyday life of Jewish culture, Semjen said.
The government, working together with the Jewish community, is doing everything it can to ensure that this remains the case, he added and noted that all the meanwhile the geopolitical events of the past decade have made Islamist anti-Semitism an everyday problem in Western Europe, and more and more people are attacking the state of Israel, and some are even questioning its existence.
Deputy PM Semjén said that since the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, more attention needs to be paid to combating anti-Semitism. Hungary is in the fortunate position that the state has taken several measures in recent years to combat anti-Semitism.
He noted that during Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union a Hungarian national strategy against anti-Semitism was published as a result of joint work with the Jewish community and the Council last year adopted a declaration to promote Jewish life and combat anti-Semitism.