Antisemitism “has no place in Europe or anywhere”, European Affairs Deputy Minister Marilena Raouna said, as she addressed the European Parliament in light of a number of incidences of antisemitic hate crimes in Europe in recent weeks.

She said she wished to “unequivocally condemn” the attacks, which included an arson attack in a Jewish neighbourhood in the Belgium city of Antwerp last month and an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam, and added that “we stand in full solidarity with out Jewish communities across Europe”.

To this end, she said that Europe “reaffirms our commitment to ensuring their safety and security”, before adding that “the growing number of antisemitic incidents and the proliferation of antisemitic narratives on the internet is of utmost concern”.

“It concerns not only those that are directly affected, it concerns us all. Antisemitism not only violates the fundamental rights of Jewish people, but also erodes European democracy and security collectively, and the very values on which our union is founded,” she said.

She made reference to the European Council’s conclusions following its summit in Brussels in December, in which it had called on the European Commission and member states to “intensify the follow-up to the council declaration on fostering Jewish life and combating antisemitism”, which it had published in 2024.

“The council declaration paved the way for concrete measures to fight antisemitic hate speech, both online and offline, as well as to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people,” she said.

She added that the measures outlined in that declaration “include the adoption of national strategies for accompanying antisemitism, the promotion of intercultural dialogue and educational programmes, as well as measures to improve the recording of antisemitic incidents”.

“On this last point, the EU has a framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, which is a strong legal instrument to combat antisemitic hate crimes and hate speech,” she said.

Nonetheless, she said that it is “necessary to further improve the recording of antisemitic incidents” and offer more avenues to victims of such incidents to report them.

She said on this matter that the European Union agency for fundamental rights – the EU body which monitors the application of human rights laws within the bloc – has offered “vital support … with its reporting and data collection”.

To this end, she also praised the European Union agency for law enforcement (Europol), which she said has offered support for “coordinated action by member states’ law enforcement agencies to prevent the dissemination of violent, extremist and terrorist content online”.