Congressman Cohen Questions Human Rights Diplomat about Anti-Semitism and Racism in Europe

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the Helsinki Commission, today questioned the director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights about levels of anti-Semitism and racism in Europe.

Congressman Cohen asked the director, Ambassador Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir of Iceland, about which countries in the OSCE region are the worst for tolerating anti-Semitism, specifically pointing to some countries of the former Soviet Union. Congressman Cohen said he is distraught at the idea that, 75 years after the fall of Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism is evident in places such as Hungary and Poland.

Congressman Cohen also asked the Ambassador about discrimination against people of African descent and the Roma people. The Ambassador said that we must be vigilant about the protection of rights for all minority groups and that the Roma people especially are the most discriminated against victims of discrimination in Europe.

See Congressman Cohen's entire exchange with the Ambassador here.

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