Ex-Austria Chancellor Calls for Raising Awareness on Anti-Semitism

The problem of anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past and is still relevant today, so it is important to raise awareness regarding the problem to stress its inadmissibility, Austria’s former Chancellor Werner Faymann told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, a two-day international conference, entitled "Protecting the Future," started in Moscow dedicated to combating anti-Semitism.

"To have such platforms [conferences] means to wake up people who think that it is not an issue of the day, but it is a current issue and it is an issue of history. So I think these conferences always are an important signal to people to say that you can never accept anti-Semitism," Faymann said.

The conference is organized by the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) with the support of the Moscow authorities and the World Jewish Congress. The conference includes plenary sessions, panel discussions and round tables with the participation of international experts, politicians and representatives of Jewish organizations.

According to the results of a survey carried out by the institute for public opinion research Levada Center upon the request of the Russian Jewish Congress, over 80 percent of Russians treat Jews like any other nation and have no anti-Semitic sentiment.