Judit Varga: Hungary is the safest place for Jews

Hungary’s Minister of Justice Judit Varga: Our Jewish community ?is enjoying a? renaissance, we have “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism.

bY Nitsan Keidar, Poland, 

Judit Varga, the Minister of Justice of Hungary, participated in the EJA symposium on 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in Cracow.

“In Hungary there is no need to fear a rise of anti-Semitism,, Varga declared, ” as we have taken a number of measures to prevent our Jewish compatriots from being subjected to violent, and even verbal, atrocities or acts with an anti-Semitic nature that are increasingly widespread in the West.”

“It is important to highlight that Budapest has Europe’s third largest Jewish community, and the world’s second largest synagogue,” Varga said and noted that Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has several times declared “zero tolerance policy against anti-Semitism” and that any incident has been promptly followed by high-level official condemnations. “Hence, the Jewish community community can always rely on the government’s support and protection.”

“There’s no need to secretly invite worshippers for Shabbat services,” Varga noted, “and the Jewish compatriots can proudly wear their kippah in the streets in Hungary. You may say that Hungary is one of the safest countries in Europe for the Jewish culture, and this is according to the leaders of the local Jewish Community which is enjoying currently a renaissance.”

“The way we remember the past and the way we act in the present, also determines our future. As long as we can raise a generation that can become a hero in difficult situations, our world is not lost,” Varga concluded.