“As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we mark the 80^th year since the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. We remember the unprecedented horrors of the Holocaust. Six million Jews and millions of others were murdered, 1.1 million in Auschwitz alone.” This has been written in a “Statement by the members of the European Council” (the 27 heads of State and Government of the EU) on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. “Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented increase in antisemitism on our continent, not seen since the Second World War. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the alarming rise in violent anti-Semitic incidents, Holocaust denial and distortion, as well as conspiracy theories and prejudice against Jews”. The text goes on like this: “More than ever, it is crucial that we uphold our responsibility to honour the victims of the Holocaust. We are determined to combat antisemitism and to protect and foster Jewish life in Europe. We denounce all forms of discrimination, intolerance, racism, and xenophobia, and will take decisive action to address these threats to democratic societies.”
“Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, including the freedoms of expression and religion or belief, as well as the rights of persons belonging to minorities, must and will guide our actions at all times, in line with the values upon which our European Union is founded, and which are common to us all. ‘Never again is now”.