Rene van der Linden: «Lukashenka should apologize before Jews»

“The anti-Semitic remarks of Lukashenka can be on the edge of absurd, but it is not a reason to regard them as acceptable”, - Rene van der Linden, the president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly declared. “Lukashenka should think over that and apologize for his humiliating words if he seriously wants to become closer to the rest of Europe”, - the PACE President said.

Van der Linden remarked that the Council of Europe as a community based on the values was established as the first step in the process of European integration to prevent the revival of intolerability and extremism in Europe. The struggle with anti-Semitism had been one of the priority points of the Council of Europe and will remain it until the threat of anti-Semitism exists, radio Svaboda reports.

It should be reminded that 12 October on the press conference Lukashenka said: “If you visited Babruisk, you saw in what condition the town was. It was frightfully to enter, it was a pigsty. It was largely a Jewish town, and you know what the attitude the Jews have towards the place they live. Look at Israel, I have been there… In no case want I to offend them, but they do not care of the grass to be cut like in Moscow, at Russians, Belarusians.

17 October Israel’s Ambassador Zeev Ben-Arie expressed his “surprise and regret” concerning the Belarusian ruler’s remarks addressing Jews. “The echo of, as I hoped, the long ago buried by the enlightened mankind myth of untidy, dirty, stinking Jews, the anti-Semitic myth, is heard in these remarks”, - the diplomat noted.

The Israel’s Ambassador left Belarus. Together with him went away the First Secretary of the Embassy Igal Koifman with his family.