On 24 April 2015 Szabolcs Takács, Ministerial Commissioner of the Prime Minister’s Office and 2015 Chairman of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), received Ambassadors of the IHRA’s 31 member states and 8 observer states, to mark the start of Hungary’s chairmanship of the organisation.
In his presentation Mr. Takács said that Hungary is now chairing the IHRA for the second time since the organisation’s establishment of in 2000. He emphasised that this fact reflects Hungary’s commitment to combating anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
The Ministerial Commissioner gave a detailed overview of the Hungarian chairmanship’s programme for 2015, explaining that the main focuses will be on tackling anti-Semitism, on promoting Holocaust education, on the issue of the Romani genocide and on increasing the organisation’s presence and importance.
Mr. Takács stressed that throughout its chairmanship Hungary will attach great importance to cooperation with the other members of the troika: last year’s chair Great Britain and next year’s chair Romania.
He pointed out that during the Hungarian chairmanship three large international conferences will be organised on the following topics: Holocaust-related imagery and lexis in everyday language; increasing anti-Semitism in Western and Central Eastern Europe; and the Romani genocide and the current situation of the Roma in Europe. Furthermore, Hungary will also host two important general assemblies during its chairmanship: on 8-11 June in Budapest and on 1-5 November in Debrecen.
The underlying reason for involving the provincial city of Debrecen was to make the development of Jewish communities outside Budapest more visible, and to symbolically involve the next chair, Romania, in the joint efforts. Debrecen is also a fine example of the Government’s synagogue renovation programme, Mr. Takács said, adding that a second important government initiative will also be launched, involving the renovation of neglected Jewish cemeteries. This initiative will be implemented with the participation of Jewish communities and local people, during which an important aspect will be the involvement of students, with the aim of educating them on the issue. The Ministerial Commissioner identified elements fully in line with the IHRA’s objectives as being the enhanced importance of involving local communities and assuming wide societal responsibility.