Lavrov accuses Ukraine and the Baltic states of nationalism, anti-Semitism and Russophobia
On Monday, November 22, Moscow's third international conference on combating xenophobia, anti-Semitism and racism “defends the future”. Experts from dozens of countries around the world discussed the acute challenges of our time and ways to address them.
Photo: Natalia Gubernatorova
The conference is organized by the Russian Jewish Congress with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and other ministries. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sent a call to the organizers and participants, saying that “Russia has historically developed as a multi-ethnic state in which representatives of different nations, cultures and religions have peacefully coexisted for centuries.”
At the same time, according to the head of the foreign policy department, unfortunately, manifestations of nationalism, anti-Semitism and Russophobia are on the rise in a number of European countries, especially in Ukraine and the Baltic countries. There is open propaganda of misanthropic ideas, intensifying the activity of neo-Nazis and other radicals. Persistent attempts to divide society along ethnic, religious and linguistic lines are a matter of deep concern. & # 39; & # 39;
“ These dangerous actions require the most energetic response of the world community, & # 39; & # 39; summed up Sergei Lavrov.
As for Russia, according to the chairman of the Russian Jewish Congress Yuri Kanner, the level of anti-Semitism in our country is one of the lowest in the post-Soviet area, lower than in Georgia, but higher than in Estonia.
The only international conference on the fight against xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance, which takes place in the post-Soviet space, has gained a reputation in this area as one of the leading platforms in the world.
Conferences & ndash; already third in line & ndash; was scheduled to take place in the autumn of last year, but was postponed due to the COVID pandemic.
On the eve of the event, RJC President Yuri Kanner said that despite the pandemic, representatives of 40 countries responded to the invitation to attend the conference (for comparison: in 2018, there were participants from 35 countries). In addition, the conference program itself, covering the current challenges of our time, has been significantly expanded. Thus, for the first time, the conference decided to hold a round table on Islamophobia, which, the organizers point out, is gaining strength as Islamic radicalism, extremism and terrorism spread around the world. A separate conference venue is also devoted to the section dedicated to online multiplayer online games. Conference participants spoke about the need to combat hate speech on social networks in the prevention of hate crime.
There is a separate section on “sports”. exacerbation of xenophobic moods. Indeed, unlike the popular phrase “Oh sports, you are the world,” sports passions can turn into violence (including racial and nationalist) & ndash; and effective tools are needed to combat this phenomenon.